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>me     sieBtial  and  Adequate 
to  French  ProDunciatioa 
and  Rhy thiB 


KNOW'LES-FAVARB 


GIFT  OF 
M.  G.  Luck 


•' 


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Perfect    French    Possible 


Some  Essential  and  Adequate  Helps 

to  French  Pronunciation 

and   Rhythm 


MARY  H.  KNOWLES 

MEMBRE  ACTIF  DE  L' ASSOCIATION  PHONETIQUE  INTERNATIONALE. 

PRESIDENT  FOR  TWENTY-SEVEN  YEARS  OF  THE  CLUB  FRANQAIS  DE  CHICAGO. 

NOMMEE  OFFICIER  D'ACADEMIE  LE  SEIZE  OCTOBRE  1902. 

AND 

BERTHE  DES  COMBES  FAVARD 

TEACHER  OF  FRENCH  IN  THE  HYDE  PARK  HIGH  SCHOOL,  CHICAGO. 


D.  C.  HEATH  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS 
BOSTON     NEW  YORK     CHICAGO 


COPYRIGHT,   1910 

BY  D.  C.  HEATH  &  Co. 

i  E  7 


PREFACE. 


When  one  reflects  that  language  is  made  up  of  sounds,  it 
seems  too  obvious  for  mention  that  the  acquisition  of  a  new 
language  should  begin  by  a  mastering  of  its  sounds.  Notice 
the  word  "mastering".  There  are  thousands  of  persons  who 
know  perfectly  well  that  French  i  equals  English  ee,  and  who 
nevertheless  go  through  life  pronouncing  the  past  participle 
"finished",  finny,  instead  of  fee-nee,  which,  had  it  been  firmly 
fixed  in  the  mind  at  the  outset,  would  be  quite  as  easy  as 
1  finny',  since  all  the  sounds  in  this  word  fini are  English  sounds 
(fee-knee). 

We  all  know  what  "playing  by  ear'*  means  to  a  trained  musi- 
cian. Would  it  not  be  pedagogically  as  absurd  for  a  teacher  of 
language  to  expect  his  pupil  to  speak  before  he  can  pronounce, 
as  it  would  be  for  a  music  teacher  to  expect  his  pupil  to  play 
an  air  upon  the  violin,  before  he  has  taught  him  to  tune  his 
instrument  or  to  sound  each  note  upon  the  strings? 

This  little  manual  of  pronunciation  is  not  a  technical  work 
on  phonetics.  It  contains  simply  those  elements  of  phonetics 
which  are  necessary  to  the  correct  pronunciation  of  French, 
and,  by  our  use  of  English  equivalents  and  rules  for  the  form- 
ation of  those  sounds  which  have  no  English  equivalents,  we 
have  been  able  to  perfect  a  system  of  applied  phonetics,  with- 
out having  had  recourse  to  the  symbols  of  the  phoneticians, 
who  compel  one  to  learn  what  appears  to  the  eye  to  be  one 
foreign  language  simply  as  a  preparation  for  the  study  of 
another.  It  differs  from  other  works  on  pronunciation,  because 

iii 

M41889 


IV  PREFACE 

it  leaves  out  everything  but  the  essentials,  and  is  the  only  work 
in  which  rules  for  rhythm,  as  such,  are  given  in  a  form  that 
will  secure  correct  and  musical  inflection.  It  is  unique  in  that 
it  gives  infallible  rules  for  the  production  of  those  sounds  that 
cannot  be  approximated  in  English. 

To  an  objector,  who  might  say  that  all  this  takes  too  much 
time,  we  could  reply  by  actual  proof  with  large  classes  in  the 
school-room,  as  well  as  with  private  pupils,  that,  on  the  con- 
trary, by  the  use  of  this  method  a  great  saving  of  time  is 
effected;  for,  when  once  the  learner  has  mastered  the  thirty- 
six  sounds  of  the  French  language,  and  the  rules  for  rhythm, 
he  can  pronounce  any  word  at  sight  unerringly.  Thousands  of 
words  of  Latin  derivation  are  the  same  in  the  two  languages, 
but  the  vowel  sounds  of  the  two  offer  so  many  differences  that 
no  beginner  would  recognize  the  French  word  «  e'ducation  »,  for 
instance,  when  pronounced  by  a  French  person,  although  to 
the  eye  it  is  exactly  the  same  as  the  English  word.  A  pupil, 
however,  who  has  been  trained  in  our  me,thod,  recognizes  all 
these  words  instantly,  no  matter  how  rapidly  they  may  be 
uttered  by  a  French  person,  even  before  he  has  begun  the 
study  of  the  language  as  such.  Our  method  has  given  him  at 
once  the  key  to  this  large  and  varied  vocabulary. 

While  we  have  made  an  exhaustive  study  of  Nyrop,  Littre', 
L'Abbe'  Rousselot,  Leon  Ricquier,  Yersin,  Ahn,  Legouve,  and 
Paul  Passy,  and  make  nowhere  any  statement  which  is  not 
backed  by  one  or  more  of  these  authorities,  we  have,  in  the 
majority  of  cases,  done  away  with  pages  of  rules  by  deducing 
from  them  general  laws  which  experience  has  proved  to  be 
true ;  notably  in  the  treatment  of  the  nasal  sounds,  in  that  of 
the  liquid  /,  which  has  been  reduced  to  three  rules  of  one  line 
each,  and,  most  important  of  all,  in  that  of  the  mute  <?,  which  is 
disposed  of  in  two  rules.  These  two  rules  with  remarks,  foot- 
notes, etc.,  concerning  them,  have  been  condensed  into  three 


PREFACE  V 

pages,  and,  together  with  those  for  the  formation  of  French 
sounds  having  no  English  equivalents  (0,  u,  eu?  en*  and  uvular 
r)  as  formulated  here,  are  absolutely  original,  and  can  be  found 
in  no  other  work. 

We  feel  safe  in  asserting,  that  this  tabulated  system  of  ap- 
plied phonetics  is  the  briefest,  simplest,  and  most  complete 
work  on  pronunciation  ever  published;  its  briefness  and  its 
simplicity  being  the  most  valuable  result  of  our  wide  exper- 
ience and  long  years  of  study. 

It  is  not  a  mere  theory  that  we  are  trying  to  advance,  but  the 
result  of  long  years  of  practical  application  in  the  class-room, 
where  these  principles  have  been  slowly  evolved,  daily  prac- 
ticed, and  found  to  produce  the  desired  results. 

We  have  never  believed  in  the  "French  Without  a  Master" 
systems,  for  we  think  that  a  teacher  is  an  absolute  necessity, 
but,  if  ever  there  were  a  system  in  which  a  pupil,  determined 
to  learn,  and  unable  to  procure  a  master,  could  teach  himself 
to  pronounce  as  French  people  do,  this  is  the  one. 

Disputed  points  and  exceptions  have  been  purposely  omit- 
ted, so  that  the  essential  principles  of  pronunciation  may  be- 
come deeply  rooted  and  have  unobstructed  growth  in  the  mind 
of  the  learner,  who,  in  order  to  keep  first  impressions  clear  and 
fresh,  must  at  first  remain  in  ignorance  of  disputed  points.* 

We  take  pleasure  in  expressing  our  sincerest  thanks  to 
professors  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  and  others,  for  the 
valuable  help  their  counsel  and  kindly  criticism  have  been  to 
us.  The  rapid  sale  of  our  first  four  editions,  unadvertised  as 
they  were,  and  the  adoption  for  use  of  this  book  in  the  Public 
Schools  of  Chicago,  and  schools  and  colleges  elsewhere,  have 
encouraged  us  to  have  this  enlarged  and  revised  edition  pub- 
lished on  a  larger  scale.  Great  care  has  been  taken  in  the 

*  Exceptions  to  rules  for  pronunciation  are  noted  in  the  Grammaire  de  la 
Conversation. 


VI  PREFACE 

eleventh  edition  to  correct  errors  that  had  crept  into  the  pre- 
vious ones,  and  we  shall  be  grateful  for  any  suggestions  that  will 
enable  us  further  to  perfect  our  work  in  succeeding  editions. 

The  most  perfect  application  of  this  method  of  pronunciation 
and  drill  may  be  obtained  by  using  it  in  conjunction  with  the 
Grammaire  de  la  Conversation  (Knowles-Favard),  D.  C.  Heath 
&  Co.,  publishers.  This  book,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  pages 
of  necessary  explanation,  is  written  entirely  in  French.  The 
lessons  are  so  graduated  as  to  be  understood  from  the  first  by  the 
beginner.  In  the  first  twenty  lessons,  no  abnormal  or  nasal  sounds 
are  included  ;  only  those  sounds  are  used  which  (by  proper  voice- 
placing)  can  be  easily  pronounced  by  English-speaking  people. 
In  the  next  twenty  lessons,  the  nasal  and  the  abnormal  sounds 
are  taken  up  in  proper  order,  and  in  all  lessons  throughout  the 
book,  the  practical  application  of  this  system  of  pronunciation 
and  rhythm  is  further  carried  out  by  constant  references  to 
Perfect  French  Possible  (see  page  1 4). 

The  careful  following-out  of  the  system  laid  down  in  these 
two  books,  which  have  been  written  for  each  other  —  or  we  may 
more  properly  say,  evolved  from  and  by  each  other  —  will  give 
to  the  ordinary  student  a  rhythmical  and  musical  French,  simple 
in  form  and  correct  in  idiom. 

For  particulars  in  regard  to  a  normal  course  and  other 
courses  in  the  Knowles-Favard  system,  address  New  School 
of  Conversational  French,  Fine  Arts  Building,  Chicago,  111. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


PAGE. 

A  WORD  TO  TEACHERS   .........          x 

SOME  ESSENTIAL  AND  ADEQUATE  HELPS  TO  FRENCH  PRONUNCIATION 
AND  RHYTHM.  i 

Intrinsic  difference  between  French  and  English  —  Three  things 
necessary  to  perfect  French. 

CHART  OF  FRENCH  SOUNDS 2 

Thirty-six  elementary  sounds  —  a,  a,  e,  e,  e,  e,  i,  6,  o,  u,  eu,1  eu,2 
an,  in,  on,  un,  ou,  ch,  b,  d,  f,  g,  gn,  h,  j,  k,  1,  m,  n,  p,  r,  s,  t,  v,  y,  z  — 
English  equivalents  —  Signs  used  in  this  book. 

THE  FRENCH  ALPHABET 3 

VOWEL  SOUNDS 3 

Exercises  invaluable  to  singers  —  Articulation  —  Phoneticians' 
diagram  of  normal  vowel  sounds  —  Pronunciation  of  /  indicated  — 
Poule  and  pool  compared  —  Diagram  including  abnormal  vowel 
sounds. 

NASALIZED  VOWELS         .........          5 

Formation  of  Nasals  —  Helpful  experiments  —  Exercise  for  uvular 
r  serviceable  in  the  study  of  nasals  —  Diagram  including  nasalized 
vowels. 

CONSONANT  SOUNDS 8 

Approximately  the  same  as  in  English  —  Initials  —  Finals. 

SYLLABIC  PRACTICE 9 

Exercise  for  / — Daily  practice  necessary  —  Ien,  final  —  Mono- 
syllables —  Final  —  Not  final  —  Verb  and  Participle  endings  — 
-5*  and  ent  final  in  verbs. 

SYLLABLES 13 

Dividing  words  into  Syllables  —  Importance  of  Syllabication  — 
Mute  syllable  defined  —  Peculiarities  of  phonetic  syllabication  — 
Tonic  accent. 

vij 


viii  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 

How  TO  LEARN  TO  PRONOUNCE  A  FRENCH  WORD  PERFECTLY      .        15 
VOWELS 16 

a  —  e,  preceding  mm  —  d  —  a,  preceding  s  —  as,  a(tion),  and  a(ille) 
in  nouns,  final  —  e,  at  the  end  of  a  syllable  —  / —  ez  —  er  —  at, 
final  in  verbs  —  e  —  at  —  ei — et  (final)  —  e,  before  a  combination 
of  consonants  —  e,  when  not  the  last  letter  of  a  syllable  —  e  —  i  — 
2 — y,  vowel  —  ou  —  d  —  ati  —  eau  —  0(s)  —  0(tion) —  os,  ot,  and  o, 
final  —  Four  sounds  which  have  no  English  equivalents  —  Rule 
for  the  formation  of  o  —  Exercise  with  English  words  —  Rule  for 
the  formation  of  z/  —  Words  showing  abnormal  resultant  of  two 
normal  sounds  —  Exercise  for  u  and  ou  —  Rule  for  the  formation 
of  eu^ —  Rule  for  the  formation  of  eu*  —  en  in  the  conjugation  of 
avoir. 

NASALS 20 

Nasals  defined  —  an,  am,  en,  em,  —  in,  im,  ain,  aim,  ein,  eim,  yn, 
ym  —  on,  om,  —  un,  urn  —  Impure  nasals  —  ten  —  oin  —  Impure 
nasals  in  viendrai,  etc. 

VOWELS  MELTING  TOGETHER  .  .  „  .  .  .  .  21 
oi — i,  u,  and  ou,  before  vowels  —  Exercises  for  pronunciation  of 
these  combinations  in  one  emission  of  the  voice  —  Syllabication 
of  vowel  combinations. 

CONSONANTS 23 

List  of  consonants  alike  in  French  and  English  —  c  and^-,  before  e 
and  i  —  h,  aspirate  and  inaspirate — j — q  —  s,  between  vowels  —  w 

—  x — y —  Rule  for  the  formation  of  d,  t,  I,  and  n  —  Voice  placing 
for^-,  and  k  —  Two  French  r's  —  Lingual  r  —  Uvular  r —  Modifi- 
cation of  English  r — Dissimilarity  of  similar  French  and  English 
words. 

CONSONANT  COMBINATIONS 27 

ch — gn,  in  foreign  derivations — ph — /,  initial — gu  —  qu  —  /*'  — 
th  —  Combinations  which  are  not  separated  in  syllabication. 

DIACRITICAL  MARKS 27 

Cases  in  which  accents  do  not  count  phonetically  —  The  apostrophe 

—  The  cedilla  —  The  diaeresis. 

LIQUIDS 28 

//,  final  —  ill,  preceded  by  a,  by  eu,  by  ou  —  ill,  not  initial — gn, 
liquid  — y. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS  IX 

MUTE  SYLLABLES 29 

When  e  is  not  pronounced  —  When  e  is  pronounced — Sometimes 
replaced  by  a  pause  without  breath  —  Often  an  involuntary  and 
unavoidable  sound  both  in  French  and  in  English  —  Series  of  mute 
syllables  in  sentences  —  In  words. 

LINKING  SOUNDS  TOGETHER          .        .        .        .        .        .        .        32 

Syllables  and  words  linked  together  in  elegant  French  —  Liaisons 
—  Definition  of  a  liaison  —  Consonant  sounds  which  change  in 
liaisons  —  Tying  nasals  —  Trained  ear  the  guide —  Rules  for  making 
liaisons  —  Linkings  of  sounds,  not  liaisons  —  Consonants  linked  to 
vowels  —  Difference  between  linkings  and  liaisons  —  Vowels  linked 
to  vowels  —  Linkings  with  substantives. 

RHYTHM 38 

French  and  English  Rhythm  compared — Effect  of  syllabication 
on  rhythm  —  Where  stress  should  be  placed  —  Displaced  stress. 

STRESS  GROUPS 40 

Stress  Groups  defined  —  Importance  of  correct  placing  of  tonic 
stress  —  Sentences  showing  where  stress  falls  in  stress  groups. 

DISPLACED  ACCENT ...        42 

SUMMARY  OF  THE  KNOWLES-FAVARD  SYSTEM      ....  43 

READING  LESSON  OR  DICTATION 44 

PROSE  FOR  PRACTICE 45 

Slow  reading  with  stress  groups  indicated  by  vertical  lines. 


A  WORD  TO  TEACHERS. 

To  those  who  have  still  to  be  convinced  of  the  utility,  not 
to  say  the  necessity,  of  this  method,  and  who  say,  "We  prefer 
imitation;  our  pupils  imitate  our  pronunciation,  and  that 
is  better  than  all  these  comparisons  of  English  and  French 
sounds,"  we  would  answer,  "Our  whole  object  is  to  awaken 
the  imitative  sense,  to  cultivate  it,  to  keep  it  alive  by  opening 
the  ears  and  the  understanding  of  your  pupil.  In  short,  we 
teach  him  to  listen  to  you,  to  understand  you,  to  imitate  you. 
But,  admirable  as  imitation  is,  the  pupil  can  nevertheless  imi- 
tate you  only  when  with  you,  and  this  little  book  is  to  serve 
as  a  guide  in  the  many  hours  when  he  is  studying  alone." 


This  book  should  be  not  only  on  the  teacher's  desk 

but  in  the  hands  of  each  one  of  the  pupils 

no  matter  how  advanced. 


Large  type  is  for  first  lessons.    Small  type  is  for  more  advanced  work. 
The  whole  book  is  to  be  used  continuously  for  reference. 

x 


PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE. 


SOME  ESSENTIAL  AND  ADEQUATE  HELPS  TO  FRENCH 
PRONUNCIATION  AND  RHYTHM. 

The  intrinsic  difference  between  the  pronunciation  of 
French  and  English  is  —  first,  that  French  is  spoken  from 
the  front  of  the  mouth,  and  not  on  the  molars ;  second,  that 
a  French  word  is  not  spoken  as  a  word,  as  English  words 
are,  but  as  a  succession  of  syllables;  third,  that,  in  English, 
a  word  is  attacked  with  great  energy,  the  force  dying  away 
gradually  to  the  end ;  while,  in  French,  on  the  contrary,  the 
initial  syllable  receives  only  a  slight  stress,  which  increases 
gradually,  culminating  in  the  final  syllable,  whose  conso- 
nant-sound is  often  uttered  with  explosive  force. 

If  the  pupil  bears  these  three  things  constantly  in  mind, 
and  observes  the  rules  below,  his  pronunciation  will  be  per- 
fect and  his  accent  French. 

RULES. 

I.  Keep  the  vowel  sounds  pure. 
II.  Join  each  consonant  or  consonant  combination  to 

the  following  vowel. 

III.  Place  the  tonic   accent   on   the  last  sounded   syl- 
lable, and  keep  mute  syllables  mute. 


PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE 


CHART  OF  FRENCH  SOUNDS. 

The   thjrty:six  elementary  sounds  of  which  the  French 
language  is  composed  are: 


PAGE 

PAGE 

a  r=  Ann 

16 

ch  = 

shine 

27 

ar=  ah 

16 

b  = 

bed 

23 

e  =  up*  and  sometimes  urn 

16 

d  = 

did,  modified 

23 

e  =  Abe 

16 

r    

fat 

23 

e  =  ebb 

i? 

g  = 

get 

23 

e  =  ebb,  prolonged 

i? 

gn  = 

canyon,  modified 

28 

i  =eel 

17 

h  = 

hat    (silent    in    Parisian 

6  •=.  ode 

17 

French) 

23 

o  —  awe,  modified 

18 

\  — 

measure 

23 

u  —  product  of  the  union  of 

k  = 

kill 

23 

ou  and  i. 

18 

1  = 

let,  modified 

23 

eu1^  product  of  the  union  of  o 

m  = 

met 

23 

and  e. 

19 

n  = 

not 

24 

eu2=r  product  of  the  union  of  6 

P  = 

poor 

23 

and  e. 

19 

r  = 

rat,  modified 

24 

an  =  a 

20 

s  = 

sat 

23 

inz=a 

20 

t  = 

tan,  modified. 

23 

on  —  o 

20 

V  = 

vat 

23 

un  =  eu1 

20 

y  = 

yearn 

23 

ou  =  ooze 

17 

z  = 

zone 

23 

This  is  a  chart  of  sounds  only.     For  letters  see  page  3. 

When  we  use  the  arithmetical  formula  "  a  =  Ann  ",  "  e  =  ebb  ",  we 
mean  that  French  unaccented  a  equals,  or  has  the  same  sound  as,  the 
A  in  Ann,  and  that  £  equals,  or  has  the  same  sound  as,  e  in  ebb,  and  so 
on. 

When  (in  this  book)  French  sounds  are  represented  by  English 
sounds  or  words,  consider  that:  a  =  a.  We  use  the  tilde (~)  over  a 
vowel  to  show  that  that  vowel  is  nasalized.  When  in  examples  of  any 
kind  exceptions  to  our  rules  of  pronunciation  occur,  the  correct  pro- 
nunciation is  indicated  after  the  word.  English  equivalents  for  French 
sounds  and  words  are  printed  in  bold  face  type. 

*  It  is  identical  with  the  ever  recurring  obscured  vowel  in  English :  unattainable, 
divisible,  recollect,  recent  j  and  e  in  the  German  word  bitte. 


VOWEL    SOUNDS  3 

We  often  find  that  the  pronunciation  of  an  English  word  differs 
in  different  localities,  but  both  Webster  and  the  Century  Dictionary 
agree  as  to  the  pronunciation  of  the  English  words  given  as  models  in 
the  above  chart.  Although  we  have  used  the  word  "  modified"  for  only 
six  of  these  sounds,  it  must  be  understood  that  they  all  need  modi- 
fication before  they  can  be  considered  strictly  French.  We  have  for 
convenience  used  the  sign  of  equality  between  English  and  French 
sounds,  but,  in  reality,  until  the  English  sounds  have  been  greatly 
changed,  no  such  equality  exists.  The  English  sound  merely  gives 
you  a  starting  point.  By  hard  work  you  can  do  the  rest,  thus  making 
the  sign  of  equality  true.  This  is  really  a  study  of  voice  placing, 
which  will  give  you  musical  French  and  improve  your  English  at  the 
same  time.  When  you  have  succeeded  in  pronouncing  the  sounds 
(not  marked  modified  or  nasal  ~)  which  are  indicated  in  the  English 
words  we  have  given  —  that  is,  in  pronouncing  them  staccato  with  all 
drawlings,  additions  and  prolongations  cleanly  lopped  off  (for  they 
must  be  entirely  freed  from  the  intermediate  sounds  which  naturally 
precede  and  follow  them  in  the  English  word)  you  are  really  pro- 
nouncing perfect  French  sounds. 

THE  FRENCH  ALPHABET. 

Approximate  pronunciation  in  English  : 

a  ah  h  ash  o     oh  u  u* 

b  bay  i  ee  p     pay  v  vay 

c  say  j  zhee  q     ku*  w  doobl'vay 

d  day  k  kah  r      air  x  eeks 

e  urn  /      1  ell  s      ess  y  eegrec 

f  eff  m  emm  t      tay  z  zedd 

g  zhay  n  enn  *  No  equivalent  English  sound.  See  page  18. 


VOWEL  SOUNDS. 

The  following  exercises  all  tend  to  bring  the  voice  to  the  front  of 
the  mouth,  and  to  make  articulation  much  more  distinct  and  tones  more 
musical;  they  are  consequently  invaluable,  not  only  to  singers  and  stu- 


4  PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE 

dents  of  French,  but  to  all  persons  wishing  to  improve  voice  placing 
and  articulation  in  any  language. 

Back.  Front. 

ou  i 

6  e 

o         e 

a     a 

Phoneticians  have  discovered  that  French  vowels  travel  forward  in 
the  mouth  according  to  the  above  curious  and  interesting  diagram. 
Ou  at  the  upper  left  hand  is  the  farthest  back ;  /  at  the  upper  right 
hand  is  the  farthest  forward.  By  practicing  from  ou  to  /,  down  one 
side  of  the  V  and  up  the  other,  you  will  find  that  the  tongue  travels 
continually  forw'ard  until  at  last  you  feel  it  pressing  against  the  front 
teeth;  it  has  also  changed  its  position  from  concave  to  convex;  by 
experimenting  with  your  finger  you  will  see  that  this  is  true.* 

In  order  to  rid  yourself  of  any  rasping  and  nasal  sounds  which  may 
occur  in  your  ordinary  tones,  from  the  unnecessary  use  of  muscles  in  the 
throat,  study  the  above  diagram  according  to  the  following  directions: 

RULE  FOR  THE  PRODUCTION  OF  PURE  FRENCH  VOWELS. 

First  pronounce  ooze,  then  oo  (ou)  ode,  o  (6)  ah  (a)  Ann,  a 
(a)  ebb,  e  (e)  Abe,  a  (/)  eel,  ee  (i).  Second,  repeat  these 
sounds,  watching  closely  each  movement  of  the  lips,  a  mirror  in  hand. 
Third,  exaggerate  these  movements  of  the  lips  without  any  sound. 
Fourth,  after  each  vowel,  stiffen  the  lips  so  as  to  hold  for  an  instant 
the  shape  they  have  assumed.  Fifth,  repeat  audibly.  Holding  the  lips 
stiff  during  the  production  of  these  vowels  will  prevent  them  from 
lapsing  into  other  vowels.  The  third  sound  of  the  above  diagram  (see 
p.  1 8)  is  to  be  omitted  for  the  present.  Daily  practice  on  these  vowels 
will  make  you  sure  of  them,  but  until  you  are  sure  never  practice  them 
without  a  mirror,  for  in  order  to  get  the  desired  result  the  lips  must 
be  absolutely  motionless.  In  the  proper  noun  Abe,  pronounced  slow- 
ly, we  hear  distinctly  a  ee  b;  but,  in  order  to  get  out  of  it  a  perfect 
/,  you  must,  in  practicing  the  English  word,  entirely  eliminate  this 
extra  accidental  ee.  A  great  deal  of  practice  is  necessary  to  do  this. 
The  tendency  (an  unfortunate  one)  in  English  is  to  diphthongize  every 

*The  movements  of  the  tongue  (page  S)  must  now  be  taken  up. 


NASALIZED    VOWELS  5 

vowel,  as  we  have  shown  in  (A)  of  Abe,  while  in  French  it  is  imperative 
that  every  vowel  be  distinct  in  itself,  and  neither  begin  with  nor  lapse 
into  any  other  vowel  sound.  The  pure  French  vowel  may  be  illustrated 
by  a  perfectly  straight  line,  and  an  English  one  by  a  curve  or  a  waving 
line.  In  the  French  word  "poule"  the  ou  remains  oo  until  it  joins  /, 
while  in  the  English  word  "pool"  oo  changes  into  uh,  curving  before 
it  strikes  the  final  consonant.  Briefly  the  English  vowel  is  almost 
always  introduced  or  followed  by  some  other  sound  and  curves  con- 
tinually up  or  down;  to  use  a  homely  term,  it  "wiggles",  and  that  is 
something  which  a  French  vowel  must  never  be  allowed  to  do.  This 
characteristic  of  English  speech  becomes  a  positive  defect  in  the  un- 
educated who  unconsciously  exaggerate  it. 

Back.  Front. 

Normal.     Abnormal.     Normal. 
OU  U  i 

6       ^  eu*  ^   e 

o        eu1   e 

a          a 

Up  to  this  time  we  have  mentioned  only  the  normal  vowels.  These 
exercises  should  now  be  repeated  with  the  addition  of  the  above  vowels, 
called  abnormal  because  they  are  formed  by  the  union  of  two  others. 
Note  that  in  the  diagram  the  abnormal  vowel  lies  in  each  case  between 
the  two  vowels  of  which  it  is  a  product. 

Take  up  the  study  of  the  abnormal  sounds  by  learning  o  (page  18), 
and  introducing  it  into  the  diagram  (page  4).  Now  in  your  daily 
practice  of  this  V,  stop  after  %,  round  the  lips  as  for  o  and  tiy  to  re- 
peat e.  Then  do  the  same  thing  with  /.  Continue  this  practice  until 
you  have  learned  to  understand  the  diagram  on  page  5. 

NASALS,  or  more  correctly  speaking  NASALIZED  VOWELS. 

The  French  nasals  are  an,  in,  on,  un  (see  page  20),  and  they  differ 
from  the  pure  vowel  sounds,  on  which  they  are  based,  only  because, 
by  the  lowering  of  the  soft  palate,  they  are  made  to  issue  partly  from 

*  We  give  a  place  to  e  in  this  second  V,  not  because  it  needs  any  particular  practice, 
it  being  an  involuntary  sound  which  occurs  accidentally  in  many  languages,  but  be- 
cause it  will  be  interesting  to  you  to  see  where  it  falls  naturally  in  this  diagram. 


6  PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE 

the  nose,  instead  of  wholly  from  the  mouth ;  so  that  the  best  guides  to 
the  formation  of  the  nasals  are  the  French  vowels,  o,  a,  a  and  eu l. 

How  TO  STUDY  THE  NASALS. 

Practice  a,  a,  o,  eu1,  very  softly,  continually  trying  to  produce  the 
sound  farther  and  farther  forward  in  the  mouth  until  you  can  really 
feel  it  floating  between  the  lips.  In  doing  this  keep  the  mouth  wide 
open  and  the  lips  continually  relaxed ;  then,  when  the  vowel  sound  has 
become  as  perfect  and  as  light  as  possible,  sing  it,  and  while  singing, 
lower  the  soft  palate;  this  partly  obstructs  the  passage  of  the  air 
through  the  mouth,  and  forces  it  up  and  forward  through  the  nasal 
passages  and  out  of  the  nostrils.  A  singing  tone  is  best  for  this 
practice.  Sing  a  for  two  beats,  lower  the  soft  palate,*  continuing  two 
beats  more;  at  the  beginning  of  the  third  beat,  the  sound  becomes 
nasal.  As  an  is  the  easiest  of  the  nasals,  confine  your  attention  to  it 
at  the  outset. 


If  in  practicing  an,  you  at  first  get  English  ng  as  in  thing,  it  is 
because  you  are  allowing  the  base  of  the  tongue  to  move  upward  to 
meet  the  soft  palate.  While  singing  an,  in,  on,  and  un,  press  the 
tongue  gently  downward  with  a  pencil.  If  the  pencil  moves,  your 
tongue  is  moving.  When  you  have  learned  to  keep  the  tongue  motion- 
less, the  ng  sound  will  disappear. 

When  properly  produced,  the  nasals  are  among  the  most  musical 
sounds  in  the  French  language,  and  entirely  different  from  the  false 
nasal  twang  of  Yankee  and  Western  American  English. 

*  By  practicing  the  table  for  consonants,  according  to  the  rule  for  r  (that  is  by 
keeping  the  tip  of  the  tongue  constantly  down  so  as  to  make  the  uvula  act,  see 
page  25),  you  will  become  conscious  of  the  movement  of  the  soft  palate,  and  thus 
better  able  to  lower  it  at  will. 


NASALIZED    VOWELS  7 

EXPERIMENT  I. 

To  prove  that  the  lowering  of  the  soft  palate  changes  an  ordinary  vowel  to  a 


While  singing  # ,  give  a  succession  of  light,  quick  blows  to  Adam's 
apple  with  your  fingers,  leaving  an  interval  of  two  or  three  beats  be- 
tween them.  Each  little  blow  causes  an  involuntary  swallowing, 
bringing  down  the  soft  palate  and  thus  momentarily  changing  the 
sound  to  a  nasal. 

EXPERIMENTS  II  AND  III. 

To  prove  that  in  changing  an  ordinary  vowel  to  a  nasal,  part  of  the  air  is 
forced  through  the  nostrils. 

While  singing  #,  press  the  side  of  the  nose,  just  below  the  bridge, 
with  the  tip  of  the  index  finger ;  change  the  tone  to  a  nasal,  and  you 
will  feel  the  vibration  in  the  nasal  passage. 

While  singing  a,  hold  a  cold  mirror  quite  close  to  the  face ;  the  glass 
will  be  blurred  by  the  breath  from  the  mouth.  While  singing  an  hold 
the  mirror  close  to  the  face;  the  glass  will  become  heavily  blurred  in 
two  spots  corresponding  to  the  two  nostrils. 

You  now  have  acquired  the  nasals,  and  can  introduce  them  into  the 
diagram  for  vowel  practice. 

CHART  OF  FRENCH  VOWEL  SOUNDS,  INCLUDING  ABNORMAL  AND 
NASALIZED  VOWELS: 

Back.  Front. 

Normal.  Abnormal.  Normal. 

ou  u  i 

6  eu2  e 

6 

o  eu1         e 

a     eu1       a 

a         a 


8  PERFECT  FRENCH  POSSIBLE 

MOVEMENTS  OF  THE  TONGUE. 

With  a  bright  light  shining  directly  into  your  mirror,  watch  the 
tongue  recede  from  a  to  ou;  then  on  opening  the  mouth,  its  almost 
flat  position;  then  watch  it  bulge  and  push  forward  steadily  from  d  to 
L  In  passing  round  the  V  from  ou  to  z,  at  both  /  and  i  you  will  see 
and  feel  the  tongue  pressing  against  the  front  and  side  teeth,  and,  if 
this  pressure  be  exaggerated,  protruding  between  them.  By  this 
energetic  pushing  forward  of  the  tongue  you  will  be  perfecting  your 
vowels  and  placing  them  in  the  front  of  the  mouth  where  French  is 
spoken.  In  order  better  to  understand  these  movements  of  the  tongue, 
keep  your  finger  on  its  tip  while  you  are  pronouncing  ou,  d,  o,  d,  a,  2,  /,  /. 

When  you  have  once  really  acquired  these  sounds,  guard  against 
the  bad  habit  of  keeping  your  lips  stiffened,  for,  with  stiffened  lips,  it 
is  impossible  to  produce  musical  sounds.  In  your  subsequent  study  of 
the  abnormal  vowels  in  words,  be  careful  to  moisten  and  relax  your 
lips. 

CONSONANT  SOUNDS. 

Consonants*  and  consonant  combinations  are  approximately  the 
same  in  the  two  languages.  Consonants  are  pronounced  farther  for- 
ward in  French  than  in  English  and  are  therefore  much  better  articu- 
lated. Initial  consonants  and  those  carried  from  one  word  to  another 
are  uttered  without  stress,f  while  the  finals,  on  the  contrary,  are  intense- 
ly articulated  and  prolonged  into  what  may  well  be  called  a  veritable 
explosion.  The  muscles  of  the  French  tongue  and  lips  do  very  fine  and 
delicate  work.  They  are  better  educated  than  those  of  the  English 
tongue  and  lips,  which  are  lazy  and  which  from  the  very  first  lesson 
must  be  made  to  go  to  work  seriously,  and  never  be  allowed  to  relax 
in  their  strenuous  effort,  until  they  have  become  strong  and  supple 
enough  to  pronounce  "  a  la  frangaise  ",  not  in  the  labored  way  which 
is  almost  always  the  natural  and  unavoidable  result  of  first  efforts,  but 
with  the  perfect  ease  and  grace  which  can  be  obtained  only  by  long 
practice. 

*  See  page  23. 

t  But,  if  a  consonant  is  carried  over  to  a  syllable  which  has  either  the  tonic  or  the 
displaced  accent,  it  becomes  a  part  of  that  syllable  and  has  its  due  share  of  the  stress. 


SYLLABIC    PRACTICE 


SYLLABIC  PRACTICE. 


ba  ba  be  be  be  be  bi  bo  bout  boi  bo  bu  beu1  beu2  bia  bid 

ca  ca  ce  ce  ce  ce  ci  co  cou  coi  co  cu  ceil  ceu  cia  cia 

da  da  de  de*  de  de  di  do  dou  doi  do  du  deu  deu  dia  dia 

fa  fa  fe  fe  fe  fe  fi  fo  fou  foi  fo  fu  feu  feu  fia  fia 

ga  ga  ge  ge  ge  ge  gi  go  gou  goi  go  gu  geu  geu  gia  gia 

gna  gna  gne  gne  gne  gne  gni  gno  gnou  gno  gnu  gneu  gneu 

ha  ha  he  he  he  he  hi  ho  hou  hoi  ho  hu  heu  heu  hia  hia 

ja  ja  je  je  je  je  ji  jo  jou  joi  jo  ju  jeu  jeu  jia  jia 

ka  ka  ke  ke  ke  ke  ki  ko  kou  koi  ko  ku  keu  keu  kia  kia 

la  la  le  le  le  le  li  16  lou  loi  lo  lu  leu  leu  lia  lia 

ma  ma  me  me  me  me  mi  mo  mou  moi  mo  mu  meu  meu  mia  mia 

na  na  ne  ne  ne  ne  ni  no  nou  noi  no  nu  neu  neu  nia  nia 

pa  pa  pe  pe  pe  pe  pi  po  pou  poi  po  pu  peu  peu  pia  pia 

ra  ra  re  re  re  re  ri  ro  rou  roi  ro  ru  reu  reu  ria  ria 

sa  sa  se  se  se  se  si  so  sou  soi  so  su  seu  seu  si  a  si  a 

ta  ta  te  te  te  te  ti  to  tou  toi  to  tu  teu  teu  tia  tia 

va  va  ve  ve  ve  ve  vi  vo  vou  voi  vo  vu  veu  veu  via  via 

Jya  ya  ye  ye  ye  ye  yi  yo  you  yo  yu  yeu  yeu 

za  za  ze  ze  ze  ze  zi  zo  zou  zoi  zo  zu  zeu  zeu  zia  zia 

Practice  these  exercises  daily  according  to  rules  given  on  pages  3-3.  Every 
other  time,  pronounce  ab  ac  ad,  and  so  on,  instead  of  ba  ca  da,  remembering  to  bring 
out  the  final  consonant  with  explosive  force,  using  the  lips  and  tongue  much  more 
than  in  English.  For  practice  of  these  columns  with  the  tongue  down,  see  page  25. 

*  To  prove  to  yourself  that  the  first  intrinsic  difference  between  French  and  Eng- 
lish is  that  French  is  spoken  in  the  front  of  the  mouth,  pronounce  the  English  word 
"  day  "  naturally,  and  notice  its  position  in  the  back  of  the  mouth.  Now  bring  it 
forward  to  the  lips  and  you  will  have  the  French  word  de.  Having  pronounced  the 
English  word  "  see  "  as  you  usually  do,  bring  it  forward  to  the  lips  and  you  will  have 
the  French  word  si.  Try  this  with  "  low  "  (1'eau)  and  with  the  pronoun  "  we  "  (oui), 
and  you  will  be  convinced  that  voice  placing  makes  the  first  great  difference  between 
English  and  French,  and  that  practice  in  changing  the  English  vowels  to  French  ones 
must  be  your  first  step  in  acquiring  the  purity  and  delicacy  requisite  to  true  French 
sounds. 

f  See  footnote,  page  21. 

J  This  line  is  very  valuable  for  practice,  as  y  gives  the  sound  of  liquid  /.  See  page  28. 


10  PERFECT  FRENCH  POSSIBLE 

bie  bie  bio     bio     bieu2  bua  bue  bue  bui  boua  boue  bone  boui 

cie  cie  cio     cio     cieu     cua  cue  cue  cui  coua  coue  coue  coui 

die  die  dio     dio    dieu    dua  due  due  dui '  doua  doue  doue  doui 

fie  fie  fio      fio      fieu      fua  fue  fue  fui  foua  foue  foue  foui 

gie  gie  gio     gio     gieu     gua  gue  gue  gui  goua  goue  goue  goui 

hie  hie  hio     hio    hieu    hua  hue*  hue  hui  houa  hou£  houe  houi 

.jie  jie  jio      jio     jieu     jua  jue*  jue  jui  joua  joue  joue  joui 

kie  kie  kio     kio    kieu    kua  kue  kue  kui  koua  koue  koue  koui 

lie  lie  lio      lio      lieu      lua  lue  lue  lui  loua  loue  loue  loui 

mie  mie  mio    mio   mieu    mua  mue  mue  mui  moua  moue  moue  mou 

nie  nie  nio     nio     nieu     nua  nue  nue  nui  noua  nou6  noue  nDui 

pie  pie  pio     pio    pieu    pua  pue  pue  ^  pui  poua  poue  poue  poui 

rie  rie  rio      rio     rieu     rua  rue  rue  rui  roua  roue  roue  roui 

sie  sie  sio     sio     sieu     sua  sue  sue  sui  soua  soue  soue  soui 

tie  tie  tio      tio     tieu     tua  tue  tue  tui  toua  toue  toue  toui 

vie  vie  vio     vio     vieu     vua  vue  vue  vui  voua  voue  voue  voui 

zie  zie  zio     zio     zieu     zua  zue  zue  zui  zoua  zoue  zoue  zoui 

bla  bla  bie      bie      bie      bie      bli  bio  bio  blu  blou  bleu2bloi' 

bra  bra  bre     bre     bre     bre     bri  bro  bro  bru  brou  breu  broi 

cha  cha  che     che     che     che     chi  cho  cho  chu  chou  cheu  choi 

cla  cla  cie      cie      cie      cie      cli  cio  cio  clu  clou  cleu  cloi 

era  era  ere      cr£      ere      ere      cri  cro  cro  cru  crou  creu  croi 

dra  dra  dre     dre     dre     dre     dri  dro  dro  dru  drou  dreu  droi 

fla  fia  fie       fle       fie       fie       fli  flo  flo  flu  flou  fleu  fioi 

fra  fra  fre      fre      fre      fre      fri  fro  fro  fru  frou  freu  froi 

gla  gla  gie      gie      gie      gie      gli  gio  gio  glu  glou  gleu  gloi 

gna  gna  gne     gne     gne     gne     gni  gno     gno  gnu  gnou  gneu  gnoi 

gra  gra  gre     gre     gre     gre     gri  gro  gro  gru  grou  greu  groi 

pla  pla  pie     pie      pie      pie"      pli  pio  pio  plu  plou  pleu  ploi 

pra  pra  pre     pre     pre     pre     pri  pro  pro  pru  prou  preu  proi 

sea  sea  see      see      see      see      sci  sco  sco  scu  scou  sceu  scoi 

sla  sla  sie      sie      sie      sie      sli  sio  sio  slu       slou  sleu  sloi 

spa  sp&  spe     spe     spe     spe     spi  spo  spo  spu  spou  speu  spoi 

sta  sta  ste      ste      ste      ste      sti  sto  sto  stu  stou  steu  stoi 

tra  tra  tre      tre      tre      tre      tri  tro  tro  tru  trou  treu  troi 

vra  vra  vre     vre      vre      vre      vri  vro  vr6  vru  vrou  vreu  vroi 

Practice  these  exercises  daily  according  to  rules  given  on  pages  3 — 8,  using  the 
lips  much  more  than  in  English. 


SYLLABIC    PRACTICE 


I.I 


ban 

bin 

bon 

bun 

bian 

bien* 

bion 

boin 

bouan 

buan 

can 

cin 

con 

cun 

cian 

cien 

cion 

coin 

couan 

cuan 

dan 

din 

don 

dun 

dian 

dien 

dion 

doin 

douan 

duan 

fan 

%h 

fon 

fun 

nan 

fien 

non 

foin 

fouan 

fuan 

gan 
han 

gin 
bin 

gon 
hon 

gun 
hun 

gian 
hian 

gien 
hien 

gion 
hion 

goin 
hoin 

gouan 
houan 

guan 
huan 

jan 
kan 

ji.n 
kin 

jon 

kon 

jun 

kun 

jian 
kian 

jien 
kien 

jion 
kion 

join 

koin 

jouan 
kouan 

juan 
kuan 

Ian 

lin 

Ion 

lun 

lian 

lien 

lion 

loin 

louan 

luan 

man 

min 

mon 

mun      mian 

mien 

mion 

moin 

mouan 

muan 

nan 

nin 

non 

nun 

nian 

nien 

nion 

noin 

nouan 

nuan 

pan 

pin 

pon 

pun 

pian 

pien 

pion 

poin 

pouan 

puan 

ran 

rin 

ron 

run 

rian 

rien 

rion 

roin 

rouan 

ruan 

san 

sin 

son 

sun 

sian 

sien 

sion 

soin 

souan 

suan 

tan 

tin 

ton 

tun 

tian 

tien 

tion 

toin 

touan 

tuan 

van 

vin 

von 

vun 

vian 

vien 

vion 

voin 

vouan 

vuan 

yan 

yin 

yon 

yun 

ian 

yen 

ion 

oin 

ouan 

uan 

zan 

zin 

zon 

zun 

zian 

zien 

zion 

zoin 

zouan 

zuan 

Monosyllables. 

beau 
mer 
ton 
ma 
vu 

va 
le 
loin 
un 
chien 

coin 
quoi 
ta 
crin 
du 

pas 
nu 
rien 
pres 
bol 

mil      sien      de 
mon      bas      fin 
su       ne      jour 
seul      ni      ble 
mal      moi      tas 

la      sou      ban      sol      9a     chou 
me      feu      sel      ne      se      bu 
lui      fou      gueux      bon      nom 
glu      eau       nain      peu       veuf 
seau      loi      ri      jet      mi       le 

chef  nceud  tien  veau  non 
lit  mai  mot  toi  mien  tu 
dos  the  fleurs 


mas      sec      bai      roc      cas      ha      je 
clou       de      lien       bain       bleu       du 


deuil      lac      foi       lu       mis 
Final  Syllables. 

pon 


peur      jus      ail      que 


cun      fan      ze      dou      nou      tun      reau 

aim      ce'au      vec      reux      do      gneau      min 

teur 

pez 

lac 


chin       plon       rai       tron       cai       ter 
leil      ille      rrain      lo      vail      tez      ci 


lez  bot  in  gna  Ion 

tion  gue  fum  lai  ros 

fon  blic  nin  sse  no 

iller  xe  nir  tif  gle 


plet      quis      bit        ru      ment      let      tail      rant      sai      xer       dant 
Practice  these  exercises  daily,  according  to  rules  given  on  pages  3 — 8,  using 
the  lips  much  more  than  in  English. 

Do  not  consider  syllables  on  this  page  as  verb  endings  —  these  are  found  on  page  12. 


*Ien  is  almost  always  final,  and  is  in  this  case  equal  to  /  -j-  in.     See  page  20. 


12  PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE 

Syllables  (Not  Final). 

fo  ba      de      ve      mer      ke      lou      lam      pa      zou      ba      vo      fu  vio 

no  deu      do      nim      veil      fa      fai      ti      no      cha      sui      fleu  stra 

ca  be       plu      po      neu     tre     fe     bi     jo     fa     te     ne     pe     leu     re  sen 

be  man      bo      min      au      fe      di      ga      scou      san      vou      bra  se 

ve  tarn      chu      vi      fan      se      fro      me      da      li      nei      ra      fe  dan 

pe  lo      hu      leu      ren      syn      tau      reu      ta      che      heu      jau  pre 


Verbs  and  Participle  Endings. 


ce 

nir 

ris 

tas 

sses 

part 

chus 

sons 

stre 

geant 

nions 

rromps 

tu 

pre 

but 

sez 

nner 

bous 

gnit 

vres 

nont 

llant 

teint 

strais 

de 

fai 

mme 

mas 

yant 

mens 

blie 

mets 

clut 

teins 

ssait 

ssions 

mi 

vez 

chu 

res 

cons 

sors 

bent 

faut 

yons 

scrit 

mouds 

quiers 

ru 

tai 

lus 

per 

giez 

pant 

ront 

vris 

dois 

ssois 

scris 

voient 

ne 

lla 

dis 

vra 

Hat 

tons 

blez 

crus 

voie 

mment 

voies 

raicnt 

ye 

sse 

ras* 

tta 

eras 

faut 

rent 

vert 

geai 

cours 

rions 

ttrons 

ci 

rez 

ter 

cle 

rait 

bout 

doit 

cois 

vins 

ssons 

nnait 

drions 

te 

mis 

dre 

bes 

crit 

pars 

vint 

liez 

phre 

drais 

ssiez 

iilant 

nu 

He 

nut 

pre 

quis 

tent 

tins 

ille 

crut 

illes 

drait 

ssieds 

be 

ait 

met 

tre 

riez 

vets 

clus 

coit 

boit 

ssant 

illas 

daient 

?u 

bus 

lir 

rai 

illi 

tint 

meus 

pait 

sons 

ffrir 

ssoit 

quiert 

ra 

mit 

cus 

dre 

rons 

bois 

nant 

meut 

rait 

ssied 

blies 

rrompt 

ca 

vre 

nit 

pez 

mmes 

gnis 

cais 

chut 

blai 

nnait 

chons 

laient 

eu 

clu 

llu 

ner 

rais 

fait 

soit 

tons 

lont 

illit 

flant 

if  rent 

In  dividing  a  word  into  syllables  (phonetically),  join  consonants  to  the  following 
vowels.  Even  double  consonants  and  consonants  that  combine  are  taken  over  to  the 
following  vowel.  (See  page  13). 

In  spoken  French  ent,  as  the  plural  ending  of  verbs,  is  always  silent.  These  exer- 
cises are  practiced  as  for  singing,  the  otherwise  mute  e  being  pronounced  and  only 
the  nt  remaining  silent. 

*  S  final  and  the  circumflex  ( * )  do  not  count  phonetically  in  verb  endings. 


SYLLABLES  13 

SYLLABLES. 

I.  A  French  word  has  as  many  syllables  as  it  has  vowel 
sounds : 

u-ne,  mer,  me-re,  ve-nir,  ta-bleau,  pro-to-co-lai-re. 

II.  In  dividing  a  word  into  syllables,  join  the  consonants 
to  the  following  vowels,  for  it  is  a  basic  principle  of  French 
pronunciation  that  syllables  should  end  with  vowel  sounds.* 
Even  double  consonants  and  consonants  that  combine  are 
taken  over  to  the  following  vowel :  f 

me-de-cin,       ai-ma-ble,       fi-xer,       a-tta-cher,       au-tre. 

Syllabication  is  very  important ;  it  radically  affects  the  pronunciation 
of  words ;  take  the  word  i-nu-ti-le,  for  instance :  a  pupil  not  understand- 
ing this  basic  principle  is  always  tempted  to  pronounce  this  word  in- 
u-ti-le.  Syllabication  often  changes  the  pronunciation  of  a  syllable  in 
a  word  to  which  other  syllables  may  be  added  in  forming  a  derivative: 

jardin  jar-din 

jardinier  jar-di-nier 

jardiniere  jar-di-nie-re 

When  two  French  words  are  put  together  to  make  a  new  one,  the 
sound  of  one  of  them  may  be  entirely  changed ;  for  instance,  vin  and 
aigre  joined  make  vi-nai-gre. 

III.  Syllables  ending  in  e  are  said  to  be  mute,  as  in 
most  cases  only  the  consonants  in  them  are  pronounced. 


*  In  spite  of  this  basic  principle,  we  are  sometimes  obliged  to  leave  a  consonant 
at  the  end  of  a  syllable,  when  it  will  not  combine  with  the  consonant  that  follows  it : 
o^-te-nir.  r  will  not  combine  with  any  consonant  following  it,  so  in  syllabication  we 
often  have  to  leave  it  at  the  end  of  a  syllable :  por-te. 

t  It  is  to  be  understood  that  this  syllabication  is  for  pronunciation  only,  and  must 
not  interfere  with  the  proper  syllabication  of  worcls  in  written  French. 


14  PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE 

(In  singing,  e  is  almost  always  pronounced.  In  speaking, 
it  is  almost  always  silent.) 

peluc/ie,  temples,*          Mademoiselle. 

(The  subject  of  mute  syllables  is  exhaustively  treated  on 
page  29). 

IV.  The  last  syllable  of  every  French  word  receives  the 
tonic  accent,  except  when  the  word  ends  in  e,  in  which 
case  the  syllable  before  the  last  receives  the  tonic  accent: 

]ar-dm,  /z'-vre,  do-maz'-ne. 

(Do  not  accent,  but  gently  caress  the  last  sounded  syllable. 
See  page  38). 

Any  vowel  sound  preceding  a  mute  syllable  at  the  end  of  a  word  is  longer  than  it 
would  be  if  final. 

tout          tousse  deltf*  laine  \a           lame 

bout          boucle  zero  role  \u          h^tte 

bas  btfsse  lundz          d/'tes  lit          Iz'vre 

EASY  CONVERSATIONAL  DRILL 

For  this,  see  Grammaire  de  la  Conversation  (D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.)'. 
Lessons  1-20,  easy  vowel  sounds;  Lessons  21-29,  abnormal  vowel 
sounds  ;  Lessons  30-40,  nasals. 

All  lessons  are  arranged  for  practice  in  linkings  and  in  liaisons,  as 
well  as  for  the  application  of  the  rules  of  rhythm,  which  include  the 
principles  of  the  mute  e,  of  the  tonic  accent,  and  of  stress  groups. 

*  es  =  e,  when  s  is  a  mark  of  the  plural  or  the  personal  ending  of  verbs  :  pommes 
=  pomm^,  paries  =  park. 


HOW  TO  LEARN  TO  PRONOUNCE  ANY  FRENCH  WORD 
PERFECTLY. 

In  order  to  learn  how  to  pronounce  a  French  word  per- 
fectly, begin  by  taking  out  its  vowels  and  practicing  each 
one  separately,  according  to  the  rules  contained  in  this 
book,  until  you  can  utter  them  all  perfectly.  Then  add 
consonants  to  the  following  vowels,  articulating  distinctly 
each  one  of  the  syllables  thus  formed.  Finally  make  the 
mute  syllables  mute  and  place  the  tonic  accent  on  the 
last  sounded  syllable.  The  result  will  be  a  perfectly  pro- 
nounced French  word.  Indeed  no  French  word,  new  to 
the  learner,  ought  ever  J,o  be  pronounced  without  this 
-preparatory  analysis  and  drill. 


orange 

crayon 

travailleuse 

o-an-  e 

ai-on 

a-a  -eu-e 

o-ran-ge 

crai-yon 

tra-va-illeu-se 

o-r^-ge 

crai-yon 

tra-va  -illeu-& 

inutile 

compagnon 

evidemment 

i-u-i-e 

om-a    -on 

e-i-a  -en 

i-nu-ti-le 

com-pa-gnon 

e-vi-da-mment 

com-pa-gnon 


PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE 


VOWELS  (see  page  14). 


e,   when  it  pre- 
cedes m 


J 


a. 


\a,  ma,  sa,  baba,  iabac,  banane,  A\a\a, 

attache,  tfttaque. 
f^mme,  impud^mment.* 


a 

a(s)f 

a(tion)           I 

=  ah 

a(ille)  in-         i  final 

nouns 

dme,  htfte,  p^te,  t#che,  gtfte,  tdte. 
base,  phrase,  raser. 
pas,  tas,  cas,  bas',  las,  ras. 
nation,  station,  ration,  invitation. 
p#ille,  tailfe,  bataille, 


REM.  i.   a  before  s  with  another  consonant  =  Ann  :  #spic,  #stre. 
REM.  2.  a  (ss)  sometimes  =  ah  :  cl^sse,  c^sser,  tasse,  etc. 


e,t  at  the  endl  _  Tup  k,  m^,  ce,  d<?,  \£,  che,  ere. 

of  a  syllable  J  ~~  1  urn  (when  stress  is  needed)  \e,  me,  ce,  de,  te,  che,  ere. 


ez  (final) 

er  (almost  always 

•    when  final) 
ai  (final,  in  verbs 
only) 


I/,  cl/,  pr/,  /t/,  caf/,  pat/,  tat/,  natt/. 
chez,  avez,  \evez,  cherch^,  trouv^^. 
fach^r,  fan^r,  dtal^r,  braver,  amen^r. 

fat,  fera/,  battra/,  parlera/,  ser^/. 


L 


*  And  all  similar  adverbs. 

f  s  and  (  ~ )  do  not  affect  the  sound  of  a  in  verb  endings  :  tu  as,  nous  alUines. 

J  e  is  however  in  most  cases  inaudible.     (See  page  29.) 


o 


ai 
ei 

et  (final) 

e,  even  when  it  is 
the  last  letter  of 
a  syllable,  if  fol- 
lowed by  a  dou- 
bled consonant, 
or  by  two  conso- 
nants of  which  s 
is  the  first. 

6>t  when  it  is  not  the 
last  letter  of  a 
syllable. 


J 


VOWELS 


>.  — uuu    < 


,  gnhre,  seme,  stt're,  ach^te,  l^ve. 
lait,  fait,  caisse,  Claire,  delai,  parlais. 
p^me,  n^/ge,  sizze,  S^zhe,  rczne,  halizhe. 
j^/,  filet,  cad^/,  loqu^/,  sujV/,  Mon^/. 

v^rre,  ^spece,  testament,  r^ste,  t^rre. 
renne,  essence,  ^rratique,  ellipse,  ^lle, 
d^tte,  ndc^ssaire. 

av^c,  telj  spectre,  sd,  s^c,  b^c,  f^r,  ch^f, 
nectar,  lecture,  ^s,  l<?s,  d^s,  m<?s,  ^st. 


—  ebb,  prolonged :  m^me,  t^te,  f^te,  r<?ve,  b^te,  tr^ve. 


I    =eel:    I  id,  habzt,  f/n/,  samedz,  ennemz,  Racnie,  zle. 
y  (vowel)  J  [  syllabe,  rythme. 

ou. 
ou  =  ooze:  fou,  tout,  bout,  chou,  genou,  coucou,  coul6,  ourle. 

0. 

dipl^me,  c^te,  t^le,  d^me,  ^ter,  ch^mer,  tr^ne. 
autre,  saute,  badtf&d,  rivaux,  fin^^d,  chaud. 
veau,  gateau,  peau,  seau,  beau,  rideau. 
ch0se,  r^se,  prt?se,  d^se,  p^?s^,  generosite,  p^sitif. 


6 

au 

eau 

o(s)* 
o(tion) 

=ode 

OS] 

ot[  final 

o  J 

I 

nation,  potion,  btion, 
clos,  prop^J,  enclos,  gros,  dos,  repos,  dis 
mot,  pot,  sabot,  Got,  gigot,  jabot,  tricot,  paquebot. 
,  zer<?,  ech^?,  nume'n?,  brav^?,  Figaro,  siroc<?. 


Not  ss,  or  any  combination  of  s  with  another  consonant :  bn?sse,  p0ste,  hospi- 
6. 
t  See  page  14,  footnote. 


1  8  PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE 

VOWEL  SOUNDS  WHICH  HAVE  No  ENGLISH  EQUIVALENTS 
There  are  four  of  these  sounds:  0,  u,  euj-  eu'2  (see  page  14). 

RULE  FOR  THE  FORMATION  OF  o.* 

With  the  tip  of  the  tongue  pressing  the  lower  teeth,  and  the  lips 
rounded  and  stiffened  a  little  less  than  for  6,  try  to  pronounce  the  Eng- 
lish word  awe,  staccato  and  as  far  forward  as  possible.  The  result 
will  be  French  o. 

Pronounce  the  words  given  below  with   rounded   and 
stiffened  lips.    The  corresponding  French  words  will  result  : 
caught         dawn      fraught      Maud          naught      sought 
cotte  donne    frotte         mode  note          sotte 


to     n<?te,  m0de,  j01i,  L?terie,  s<?tte,  b^nne,  tonne,  n^nne, 

RULE  FOR  THE  FORMATION  OF  u. 

Round  the  lips  as  for  ou  (ooze),  and  while  holding  them 
stiff  and  motionless,  try  to  say  i  (eel).  The  result  will  be 
u.  (See  page  5.) 

louet        fou         noue         roue         sou         voue 
lit  fie  nid  riz  si  vie 

lu  fut          nu  rue  su  vu 

u  ]  \u,  bu,  nu,  su,  tu,  pu,  rue,  cru,  bru,  dru,  e'tade,  £lu,  Iwne. 
u  )  prz/de,  brzme,  e'l^cide',  pzmition,  talle,  lugubre,  bnZler,  flwte. 
As  the  lips  have  exactly  the  same  position  for  ou  and  «,  the  change 
of  sound  in  passing  from  one  to  the  other  is  made  by  the  tongue's 
moving  from  its  most  backward  position  to  its  most  forward  position. 

*  No  matter  how  advanced  you  are,  practice  this  exercise,  and  all  the  others  requir- 
ing stiffened  lips,  for  a  few  minutes  daily  and  until  your  teacher  is  entirely  satisfied 
with  the  result.  Never  practice  without  a  mirror  in  hand  ;  without  this  means  of  see- 
ing the  lips,  there  would  be  some  slight  motion,  of  which  you  might  be  entirely  un- 
conscious, which  would  prevent  your  producing  the  sound  desired. 

fau(r)    C  at  the  beginning    )  (  j'«wrai,  Lawre. 

.         >  sometimes  =  o  < 
au(t),  (         of  a  word         J  (  auto,  autorite. 

|  With  the  lips  rounded  as  for  the  vowel  sound  of  the  first  word,  try  to  say  the 


VOWELS  19 

To  gain  ease  in  doing  this,  round  and  stiffen  the  lips  and  move  the 
tongue  backward  and  forward. 

i .  Do  this  silently.  —  2.  Repeat  while  whispering  ou  u.  —  3.  Re- 
peat No.  2  aloud.  —  4.  Read  the  following  words,  slowly  at  first, 
then  more  and  more  rapidly. 

cousu  du  tout  moulu  du  gout  tu  doutes  tu  boudes 
coutume  du  bout  pourvu  voulu  tout  fume  tu  noues. 

RULE  FOR  THE  FORMATION  OF  eu.1 
Round  the  lips  as  for  French  oy  and  while  holding  them 
stiff  and  motionless  try  to  say  e  (ebb).     The  result  will  be 
eu,  before  a  pronounced  consonant-^    (See  page  5.) 
bordp.  iSfcor          hors  Laure          pore          sort 

Berr  Caire      here          Pair  paire          serre 

beurre         cceur       heure         leur  peur          soeur 

*eu1    \ 

I   veuf.,  leur,  i\eur,  neuve,  ]eune. 

C  ceui,  "bceui,  cceur,  <=>a>ur,  ce\\,  millet,  adllade. 
oe     J 

RULE  FOR  THE  FORMATION  OF  eu* 
Round  the  lips  as  for  6  (ode),  and  while  holding  them 
stiff  and  motionless  try  to  say  e  (Abe).     The  result  will 
be  euy  final,  or  before  a  silent  consonant.     (See  page  5.) 
eauj  nos  dos  faux           Got 

et  nez  dd  fde  gai  (€) 

eux  noeud  deux  feu  gueux 

feu2  )    }eu,  ieu,  peux,  pleut,  hideux,  creux,  6meut,  inleux,  gueux. 
(EU  )    nceudj  vceux,  a?uis,  b&ufs. 

second  word  in  each  of  the  triplets  given  above.  The  result  will  be  the  third  word. 
(See  page  5.)  This  is  because  the  vowel  sound  of  the  first  requires  the  same  position 
of  the  lips  as  that  of  the  third,  and  that  of  the  second  the  same  position  of  the 
tongue  as  that  of  the  third.  Given  the  first  two,  with  lips  as  for  the  first  and  tongue 
as  for  the  second,  you  can  always  get  the  third. 

*  tie  in  cueillir,  orgueil,  cercueil,  etc.,  and  their  compounds  =  eu. 

f  In  eu  had,  and  in  fact  whenever  this  combination  occurs  in  the  conjugation  of 
the  verb  avoir,  the  e  is  silent,  the  sound  being  simply  u. 

J  Before  se  (final)  however,  eu  =  eu 2 :  heur<?z*se,  joy<r#se.  In  adverbs  derived  from 
the  above  adjectives  and  others  like  them,  eu  r=  eu 2 :  heur<?«sement,  joy^wsement. 


2O  PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE 

NASALS  (seepage  14). 

A  vowel,  followed  by  a  single  n  or  m  in  the  same  syllable, 
becomes  a  nasal  (no  English  equivalents,  see  page  5). 

REMARK:    A  vowel    followed   by   mm,   nn,  or   mn   does   not;  somme,  annee, 
gymnase. 

I. 

'  an :      dans,  pan,  an,  rang,  ancre,  plante,  manche,  sanglant. 
~  J  am:     lampe,  ambre,  chambre,  a?nple,  crampe,  rampe,  flamber. 

OL  i  i 

en:      mens,  jument,  lent,   tente,  tendre,  vraiment, 


em  :     ex^wple,  ^/^baumer,  ^;/2barquer,  ^wbuche, 

II. 

in  :      \mt  vzn,  iin,  mutz>/,  but/«,  bullet/^,  tocs/«,  Berl///,  pin. 


im  :  s/wple,  t//^bre,  z;;zbiber,  ////poll,  l/;/^pide,  n/;/^be,  /;//p6t. 

ain  :  gtf/#,  p^/;/,  b^/>/,  &ain,  saint,  pzrrain,  grain,  main,  nain. 

aim  :  faim,  daim,  essaim. 

ein  :  plein,  teint,  ceinture,  sein,  peindre. 

eim  :  Reims,  (rass). 

yn  :  sy;/taxe,  sywdicat,  s^^cope,  sy^th^se. 

ym  :  symptome,  symbols,  tympan,  thym. 

III. 

~  (  on  :  son,  ion,  don,  bon,  alb/zs,  ancle,  rond,  mouton,  ziglon. 


(on: 
1  (  om: 


nom,  pw/ipe,  bombe,  nombre,  comble,  <?/«brelle,  p£nombre. 

IV. 

-    (   un:      Melun,  lundi,  un,  brun,  chacun,  ?\un. 
\  um  :    humble,  pzrlum. 

Impure  Nasals. 

{(  mien,  bien,  tien,  sien,  rien,  chrfrien, 
=  i  -H  in*  )  comedten,  mecanicien,  chien,  musicien, 

(  citoyen,  moyen. 
oin  =  ou  4-  in  —  mains,  poing,  lain,  sain,  jaindre,  ioin,  point. 

*  In  the  conjugation  of  venir,  tenir,  and  their  compounds,  this  combination  even 
when  not  final  =  tin:  v&«drai,  tient. 


VOWELS  MELTING  TOGETHER  21 

FOR  PRACTICE  IN  DIFFICULT  SOUNDS. 

Get  etd  j'ai  ete  desole.  Je  n'ai  pas  pu  dtudier;  je  n'ai  fait  que  vcgc- 
ter  en-villegiature  au  bord  de  la  Mediterranee.  J'ai  passe  mes  jour- 
nees  et  mes  soire'es  a  contempler  les  beaute's  de  la  nature. 

Encore,  ma  bonne  Laure,  que  j 'adore,  tu  as  tort  si  tu  sors  avec  Flore 
comme  ce  coq  sur  le  roc. 

Ma  bru,  as-tu  vu  Lustucru  dans  la  rue? 

Pour  une  prune  brune  tu  as  voulu  faire  la  culbute  au  bout  de  la 
route.  Tu  ne  nous  as  pas  plu.  II  a  plu,  et  c,a  ne  t'a  pas  plu,  ni  a  nous, 
non  plus,  du  tout,  du  tout ! 

Puisque  je  puis  puiser  au  puits  e'puise',  sans  nuire  a  celui  qui  me  suit, 
je  1'y  conduirai  —  a  ce  puits. 

Quel  malheur,  soeur,  que  leurs  fleurs  meurent ! 

Malheureux  Hebreu  qui  ne  peut  pas  avoir  le  peu  de  feu  qu'il  veut! 

II  vaut  mieux  dire  adieu  a  ce  curieux  vieux  monsieur. 

VOWELS  MELTING  TOGETHER. 

oi*  =  waft  —  mei\  \oi,  ioi,  iois,  b<?zs,  (drink). 

/and  u,  and  the  vowel  combination  ou,\  keep  their  true 
sound  before  a  vowel,  but  melt  into  it,  linking  the  two 
sounds  into  one  emission  of  the  voice.  It  is  interesting  to 
note  that  the  second  of  these  sounds  is  often  two  or  three 
times  as  long  as  the  first.  Much  practice  is  required  to 
unite  these  two  sounds  into  one  emission  of  the  voice.  Give 
two  or  three  times  as  much  length  to  the  second  as  to  the 
first,  counting  i  2  3  4  or  i  2  3  as  in  music,  being  careful 
to  allow  no  hiatus  between  beats.  Practice  very  slowly  at 
first,  then  faster  and  faster,  until  the  two  sounds  melt  into 
pne-J 

*oi,  sometimes,  =  wan  :  mots,  trots,  cbztre,  bois  (wood).  For  the  difference  be- 
tween the  vowel  sounds  of  -waft  and  -wan  see  Webster. 

f  In  doing  preparatory  exercises  for  words  containing  ou,  round  and  stiffen  the 
lips  for  this  sound,  in  order  to  bring  it  out  distinctly. 

f  Difficulties  sometimes  arise  in  regard  to  the  syllabication  of  these  words  and 


PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE 


The  following  diagrams  will  be  helpful  in  this  practice : 


1234 

u      i      i      i  —  puis; 

i      2       3 

i     on     on  —  chantions; 


1234 

i     eu     eu     eu  —  mieux; 

i      2       3 

i     an     an  —  riant. 


In  //,  «/,  and  oud,  count  i  2,  i  2,  i  2.  (/)*  is  a  very  short  sound. 
The  natural  tendency  of  English  speaking  people  is  always  to  lengthen 
it  too  much,  and,  in  order  to  correct  this  tendency,  it  is  best,  in  cases 
like  the  following,  to  make  the  two  beats  equal. 

edifie  =  fi     e;  situe  =  tu     e; 


er; 


I       2 

loue  =.  lou     e ;         cahier  =  hi 

12  12 

mieux. 


I        2 

papier  =  pi     er. 

I          2 


IzVzsse 
iiacre 
manage 

nuage 
persuade 
remua 

riant 
etudiant 
viande 

asszitte 
piece 
douzieme 

tuer 
suer 
situe' 

bien 
lien 
chien 

socieft6 
acier 
pied 

duel 
cruel 
suede 

passion 
occasion 
ration 

violet 
dictz0nn 
hole 

puis} 
\ui 

cuisine 

Rouen 
Chouan 
nouant 

out 

lieux         Louis 
deux        ]ouir 

poua}\       iouet 
louage      soutiait 
ouate        ouest 

buanderie 
chat-huant 
tuant 


others  like  them,  especially  in  the  scansion  of  poetry,  as  certain  words  are  monosyl- 
labic or  dissyllabic  according  to  the  exigencies  of  the  metre.  This  is  so  fine  a  dis- 
tinction, however,  that  the  beginner  need  try  only  to  perfect  the  linking  and  leave 
the  syllabication  of  these  sounds  until  he  is  more  advanced,  when  he  might  do  well 
to  consult  Littr6  on  the  subject. 

*  See  footnote  —  page  9. 

f  With  lips  nearly  closed  and  extended  as  far  as  possible,  practice  the  following 
exercise:  iiiu  iiiu  iii,  at  first  silently,  then  whispering,  then  aloud,  then  singing. 
Each  rounding  of  the  lips  will  of  course  bring  u.  After  much  practice  you  will  be 
able  to  do  this  rapidly  and  be  singing  ui  on  the  very  edge  of  the  lips.  Now  reverse 
the  order  of  the  vowels,  and  practice  the  following  exercise  in  the  four  different  ways 
indicated  above :  uiii  uiii  uiii :  \uit,  cutt,  nuit,  b«/s,  f wz's,  swz's,  tz^'le,  hw/le. 


CONSONANTS  23 

CONSONANTS. 

The  folio  wing  consonants  are  approximately  the  same  as  in  English: 
b,  f,  k,  m,  n,  p,  s,  v,  z.  The  final  consonant  of  a  word  is  ordinarily 
silent ;  ent,  as  a  verb  ending,  and  j,  as  a  mark  of  the  plural,  are  always 
silent,  but  £,/",  /,  r,  and  the  combination  ct^  are  often  sounded,  as  in 
roc,  cie/,  vi/J  fer,  exa<:/. 

c,  before  e  or  i,  and  g  — seen,  celle,  ctd,  lefon.  (See  page  27.) 

c,  in  all  other  cases  =  kite,  de',  ^or,  ^rale. 
g,*  before  e  or  i  —  pleasure,  ju^ 

g,  in  all  other  cases  =  good,  ^arde,  ^ 

h,f  =.  hat,  but  is  silent  in  Parisian  French,  —  etre  and  hetre  being 
pronounced  exactly  alike.  The  only  difference  between  aspirate  and 
inaspirate  h  is  that  elision  of  the  preceding  vowel  takes  place  before 
inaspirate  h,  as  in  /'heroine,  and  not  before  aspirate  //,  as  in  le  hdros, 
la  ^onte.  Consult  a  dictionary  to  find  out  whether  or  not  h  is  aspirate. 

j  =  measure,  /uge. 

q=:kin,  cin^,  co^.  (See  page  27.) 

s  between  vowels  has  the  sound  of  z,  mauon,  mre,  brLre,  phrase. 

w  is  not  recognized  as  a  letter  of  the  French  alphabet.  In  words  of 

(  ooze,  tramway, 
foreign  origin  it  =  I 

(  vat,  wagon. 

x  =  ks  or  gz;  x  usually  occurs  in  words  alike  in  English  and 
French  and  the  English  pronunciation  of  this  letter  can  usually  be 
followed:  ajfe,  bo^re,  ve^rer,  tajre,  e^rcepter,  e^rces,  ejrpirer,  e^ract, 
e^ralter. 

y,  consonant,  =  yearn :  Fersin;  y,  vowel,  =  eel,  syllabe;  y,  between' 

vowels  =  i  H-  yearn.  (See  page  28.) 

Pronounce  g,  and  k,  in  the  back  of  the  mouth,  but  not  so  far  back  as 
in  English. 

d,  t,  1,  and  n,  are  consonants  whose  formation  differs  greatly  from 
the  English.     In  saying  English  */,  /,  /,  and  #,  the  tip  of  the  tongue  is 
rolled  upward  and  brought  into  contact  with  the  upper  teeth  and  gums. 

*  In  derivations,  to  preserve  the  sound  of  g  in  the  original  word,  e  is  placed  between 
it  and  the  following  vowel :  manger,  mangeons. 

t  h  is  pronounced  in  interjections  like  Ah  //a  !  and  Oh  HQ  \ 


24  PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE 

To  pronounce  French  d,  /,  /,  and  n,  with  the  tip  of  the  tongue  against 
the  lower  teeth  press  its  upper  surf  ace  against  the  upper  teeth  and  gums, 
dada,  dame,  de*,  de'cider,  dedans,  dindon,  tirade,  lourde. 
/apis,  /aille,  /an/e,  /e/e,  /enu,  /i/re,  fai/e,  /ou/e. 
/a,  /ac,  /ache,  /dga/,  /eque/,  /i/as,  se/,  pou/e,  toi/e,  dro/e. 
#on,  »i,  weuf,  JVil,  TVeron,  rei^e,  Sei;ze,  do/z/ze. 

There  are  two  French  r's. 
THE  LINGUAL  r. 

The  lingual  r  is  the  one  produced  by  a  vibration  between  the  tip  of 
the  tongue  and  the  front  upper  gums.  This  is  the  r  of  the  greatest 
number  of  French  people,  —  it  is  the  r  of  the  provinces  and,  in  its 
exaggerated  form,  is  one  of  the  principal  characteristics  of  the  very 
strong  accent  of  the  south  of  France.  It  is  easy  to  produce  this 
vibration,  but  extremely  difficult  to  do  it  delicately  enough  to  satisfy 
the  French  ear.  This  sound,  so  disagreeable  in  the  accent  of  the 
south  of  France,  becomes  still  more  objectionable  in  the  imitation  of 
it  by  foreigners.  Anyone  able  to  appreciate  the  delicate  music  of 
French  as  spoken  by  the  educated  classes  can  imagine  what  the  effect 
of  an  Irish  or  Scotch  burr  would  be,  introduced  into  the  place  of  the 
ever  recurring  French  r. 

THE  UVULAR  r. 

The  uvular  r  is  the  r  of  Paris  and  other  large  cities,  consequently 
*the  one  that  most  learners  would  like  to  imitate  if  it  were  possible. 
The  uvular  r  is  formed,  as  its  name  indicates,  by  a  vibration  of  the 
uvula  not  very  easily  imitated.  In  very  rare  cases  an  agreeable 
uvular  r  has  been  acquired.  The  rarity  of  these  cases  shoul'd  not,  how- 
ever, deter  you  from  practicing  the  exercise  indicated  on  page  25,  for, 
even  if  you  do  not  succeed  in  making  an  rwith  few  enough  vibrations 
and,  entirely  freed  from  disagreeable,  throaty  sounds,  you  will  not 
have  lost  your  time,  as  this  exercise  is  necessary  for  d,  /,  and  espe- 
cially for  /,  and  very  helpful  in  forming  the  nasals,  as  it  makes  you 
conscious  of  the  movements  of  the  soft  palate.  It  is  also  invaluable 
for  voice  placing  in  general. 


CONSONANTS  25 

EXERCISE  FOR  THE  FORMATION  OF  UVULAR  r. 

With  the  upper  surface  of  the  end  of  the  tongue  touching  the  back 
of  the  lower  teeth,  repeat  the  columns  (see  page  9),  ba,  ca,  da,  fa,  ga, 
gna,  ha,ja,  ka,  la,  ma,  na,  pa,  ra.  When  you  come  to  ra,  the  uvula 
will  vibrate  of  its  own  accord  (perhaps  not  the  first  time),  thus  pro- 
ducing a  uvular  r,  for  the  position  of  the  tongue  makes  a  lingual  r 
impossible.  Practice  this  exercise  for  two  or  three  minutes  at  a  time, 
several  times  a  day,  and  never  when  you  are  tired  or  if  your  throat  is 
not  perfectly  well.  In  two  or  three  days  you  will  be  able  to  keep  the 
tongue  down,  without  any  conscious  contact  with  the  teeth.  Then,  of 
course,  the  sounds  you  are  making  will  become  more  natural  and 
musical.  When  you  have  continued  this  practice  for  some  time,  a 
teacher  skilled  in  the  method  will  be  able  to  decide  as  to  the  advisa- 
bility of  introducing  the  uvular  r  (which  you  may  have  learned)  into  the 
French  which  you  are  acquiring.  If  in  your  case,  uvular  r  has  too 
many  vibrations  to  be  used  uniformly  wherever  r  recurs  in  the  printed 
word,  there  may  perhaps  be  no  objection  to  your  bringing  it  in  at  the 
end  of  stress  groups,  especially  in  such  words  as  alors,  dire,faire. 

As  experience  has  proved  that  it  is  almost  always  impossible  to 
imitate  acceptably  either  of  the  French  r's,  the  lingual  or  the  uvular, 
you  will  probably  do  well  to  introduce  into  your  French,  your  own 
English  r  very  much  softened.  This  softening  process  will  not  be 
very  difficult  (see  rule  p.  26),  if  your  r  happens  to  be  the  one  common 
to  most  people  in  the  United  States,  the  one  formed  by  raising  the  tip 
of  the  tongue  to  meet  the  hard  palate.*  If,  however,  your  r  is  exag- 
gerated, as  in  the  accent  of  the  middle  West  —  if  naturally  you  roll 
the  tongue  up  and  backwards,  so  that  it  touches  the  hard  palate,  perhaps 
very  far  back,  thus  filling  up  your  mouth  and  making  musical  tones 
impossible,  it  will  be  much  harder  for  you  to  follow  this  rule,  but  you 
can  do  it  by  patient  and  continued  practice.  The  sound  produced  may 
become  almost  inaudible  —  a  mere  suggestion  of  r  which  will  not  be 
disagreeable  to  French  ears.  This  is  in  the  majority  of  cases  the 
most  that  can  be  hoped  for.  In  much  of  the  prettiest  native  French 

*  In  your  study  of  r  determine  the  position  of  your  tongue  by  using  your  finger 
or  a  mirror. 


26  PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE 

r  is  very  little  heard.     An  exceedingly  delicate  r,  even  though  pro- 
nounced a  ranglaise^  need  not  mar  otherwise  perfect  French. 

RULE  FOR  SOFTENING  ENGLISH  r 

(as  usually  pronounced  in  the  United  States) 

With  the  tongue  pointed  toward  the  hard  palate,  pronounce  r  very 
much  more  delicately  than  in  English,  and  very  much  farther  forward 
in  the  mouth. 

Remember  that  in  the  pronunciation  of  r  the  thing  most  particu- 
larly to  be  avoided  is  the  sound  er,  as  in  worker.  Say  dire,  not  dee-er, 
or  dee-uh,  or  dee-ah. 

FRENCH  ENGLISH 

lire    — li  r  leer  — lee  er 

pour  —  pou  r  poor — poo  er 

dire  — di  r  dear  —  dee  er 

rire   —  ri  r  rear  —  ree  er 

Notice  the  dissimilarity  between  these  French  words  and  the 
English  words  which  are  so  nearly  their  homonyms.  This  comes 
mainly  from  the  difference  in  the  production  of  the  French  r  and  the 
English  r.  In  both  English  and  French  the  tongue  is  far  back  in  the 
mouth  and  concave  for  the  sound  ou^  oo,  but  in  the  English  r  (of  the 
United  States)  necessary  to  complete  the  word  "poor,"  for  instance, 
the  tongue  has  to  go  up  to  meet  the  hard  palate.  This  movement  of 
the  tongue  unavoidably  brings  out  an  e  more  or  less  marked  in  differ- 
ent persons  and  localities.  This  e  joined  to  r  makes  the  syllable  er  as 
in  the  English  word,  worker.  This  same  syllable  er  is  produced  in- 
voluntarily with  more  or  less  emphasis  and  is  actually  unavoidable  in 
such  English  words  as  those  noted  above,  and  will  be  also  in  the 
French  homonyms  unless  you  succeed  in  modifying  your  English  r 
very  materially  before  introducing  it  into  your  French,  or,  as  suggested 
above,  acquire  a  uvular  r  good  enough  to  be  acceptable  in  these  cases: 
rat,  rond,  remarque*,  car,  fer, 

heure,  pour,  tres,  verre,  alors. 


DIACRITICAL    MARKS  27 

CONSONANT  COMBINATIONS. 

ch  =  shine :  ^aise,  <r/zapeau. 

ch,  in  words  of  Greek  origin  =  kin:  6chv,  ^ceur,  ^oral,  ^iromancie. 

gn,  liquid,  see  page  28. 

gn,  in  words  of  foreign  derivation  —  Ag  nes  :  ^Tzome. 

ph inform:  ^Aonetique.     (Initial  p,  in  other  combinations,  is  always 

sounded:  /neu,  /neumonie,  /sychologie). 
gu,  before  a  vowel  =  good:  dogue,  lon^e. 
qu  =  kill,  before  a  vowel:  ^westion,  man^e,  trin^er,  publi^e. 
ti,*  not  initial,  before  a  vowel,  usually  =  see:  pa//ence,  par/zal,  na/zbn. 
th  =  tin :  /^e,  /^eme,  //£ese,  //^eorie. 

In  syllabifying  for  ordinary  speech,  do  not  separate  the  letters  which 
form  the  following  combinations: 


ill 

cr 

gn 

ien 

ou 

phr 

sn 

tr 

au 

dr 

gr 

ieu 

oua 

Pi 

sp 

ua 

bl 

eau 

gu 

ill 

ouan 

Pr 

spl 

uan 

br 

ei 

ia 

io 

oue 

qu 

spr 

ue 

ch 

eu 

jft 

io 

oue 

sc 

squ 

ue 

chl 

fl 

ian 

ion 

oui 

scr 

st 

ui 

chr 

fr 

ie 

oi 

ph 

si 

str 

uin 

cl 

gl 

ie 

oin 

phi 

sm 

th 

vr 

DIACRITICAL  MARKS. 

(")  and  (")  are  often  used  to  show  a  difference  of  mean- 
ing in  words  otherwise  alike,  in  which  case  they  do  not  in 
any  way  influence  the  pronunciation. 

a  (has),  a  (at  or  to);        la  (the),  la  (there);          ou  (or),  ou  (where); 
du  (of  the),  du  (owed);      sur  (on  or  sour),  sur  (sure). 

An  apostrophe  does  not  affect  pronunciation  ;  reau  •=.  lean,  d^huma- 


A  cedilla  under  a  c  makes  it  =  s;gar$0n,  commenqons.\ 

A  diaeresis  is  placed  over  the  second  of  two  consecutive  vowels  tox 

show  that  they  are  pronounced  separately  each  keeping  its  own  sound; 

tgoiste,  cigue,  aigue. 

*  When  ti  =  sh  in  English  words,  in  corresponding  French  words  it  usually  equals 
see,  initial,  notion,  station,  but  when  tion  follows  s  the  t  retains  its  proper  sound  as 
in  ques/z'on,  diges/z'on. 

t  The  cedilla  is  used  here  to  preserve  the  sound  of  c  in  the  infinitive  commen^er, 
and  in  all  similar  cases. 


28  PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE 

LIQUIDS. 

1.  z7,  final,  preceded  by  a  vowel  =  yearn. 

a//         r         attira//  eVenta//         trava//  porta// 

conse//  eve//  somme//        sole//  vie// 

deu//  ecureu//        seu//  orgue//          oe// 

2.  ///,  preceded  by  #,  eu,  on  —  yearn. 

a///eurs          bata///e         mura///e        ta///eur          trava///er 
Neu///y          feu///e  feu///eton      feu///age        veu///ez 

brou///ard      bou///ir          d^pou///er     embrou///er  mou///er 


3.  zY/,  preceded  by  ^,  z/  or  any  consonant  —  i+  yearn. 
sillon  —  si-illon  ;     conseiller  =  consei-iller  ;     juillet  =  jui-illet. 
f///e  fam///e  chen///e         gent///e 

pap///on         br///er  b///et  hab///er 

merve///e       me///eur         vie///ard 


£72  equals  ny  (modified)  in  canyon. 

The  modification  consists  in  this  —  the  n  and  the  y  in  canyon  are 
two  distinct  sounds,  while  the  ny  regarded  as  the  equivalent  of  French 
gn  is  only  one  sound  made  by  the  simultaneous  production  of  n  and  y 
in  the  upper  front  part  of  the  mouth.  Thus  we  have  the  difference 
between  the  second  syllables  of  the  two  words:  pa-^ier,  re^/zer.  Pa- 
pier =  canyon.  Re'-gv/er  =  canyon  (modified).  In  the  first  of  these 
words,  panier,  the  n  is  formed  by  pressing  the  upper  surface  of  the 
tongue  against  the  front  teeth,  and  the  tongue  has  to  move  back  from 
the  teeth  to  form  y  against  the  hard  palate,  thus  making  two  sounds. 
In  the  second,  rtgner,  the  n  is  formed  by  a  pressure  of  the  tongue 
against  the  back  part  of  the  palate  and  is  simultaneous  with  y  pro- 
duced in  nearly  the  same  place  as  the  n.  No  motion  of  the  tongue 
being  necessary  in  passing  from  n  toj,  one  sound  only  is  produced. 
a^/zeau  campa^/ze  compa^on  cygno.  ensei^zer 
ma^/zifique  re'pu^Tzance 


y- 

y,  between  vowels  —  /  -f-  yearn  ;  the  /  going  witb  tbe  pre- 
ceding vowel,  the  y  with  the  following  :  crayon  =  crai-yon, 
envoyer  =  envoi-yer. 

balayons     citqyen     ecujer     foyer     Iqyer     fraj/eur     jqj'eux     voyage 


MUTE    SYLLABLES 

MUTE  SYLLABLES. 

A  mute  syllable  is  a  syllable  ending  in  unaccented  e. 
The  following  rules  are  for  spoken  French. 

RULE  I. 

The  e  of  a  mute  syllable  is  not  pronounced : 
a.  When  it  ends  a  word  of  more  than  one  syllable : 
pale  elle  une  taxe  rudfi 


porche 


planete 


Edifice 


Catherine 


b.  When  that  syllable 
follows  a  vowel  sound  :* 


If  you  always  bear  this  rule  in  mind, 
you  can  make  hardly  any  mistake  in 
regard  to  the  mute  syllable,  as  it  is 
the  most  comprehensive,  although 
the  simplest  rule,  that  has  ever  been 
formulated. 


6    INAUDIBLE.        <?    AUDIBLE. 

subv<?nir 

arch^veque 

obtenir 

aperorvoir 

parLrment 

surj<?ter 

quelqudEois 


e   INAUDIBLE.  e   AUDIBLE. 

un  demi-frere  une  d<?mi-sceur 

la  mesure  toute  m^sure 

un  pot  de  lait  une  tasse  de  lait 

bois  de  1'eau  avec  de  1'eau 

la  le£on  la  bonne  L?9on 

les  repas  chaque  r<?pas 

plus  de  soupe  encore  de  la  soupe 


souvenir 

acheter 

soutenir 

recevoir 

paletot 

a  Jeter 

peu  de  f  ois 

In  accordance  with  this  general  law,  series  of  mute  syllables  in  a  sen- 
tence naturally  fall  into  couplets,  each  couplet  having  one  sounded  vowel, 
the  first  :f 

Je  «e    le  re    verrai  pas.  Je  /e    le  re   dis. 

*  Even  after  a  consonant  sound  or  at  the  beginning  of  a  stress  group,  e  is  some- 
times unpronounced  if  between  two  consonants  easily  combined : 

papeterie  ce  c6te*-ci  ce  matin 

cette  peluche  ce  qui  est  beau  f erai-je  mon  devoir  ? 

f  Briefly  stated,  when  a  succession  of  mute  syllables  occurs  at  the  beginning  of  a 
sentence,  i,  3,  and  5,  are  pronounced,  and  2  and  4  are  muted ;  thus,  je  ne  te  le  redirai 
plus ;  but  when  a  succession  of  mute  syllables  follows  a  vowel  sound,  the  rhythm 
changes  absolutely,  i?  3,  and  5,  being  muted  and  2  and  4  pronounced,  as  it  is  the  ini- 
tial vowel  sound  that  decides  the  dominating  pulse,  thus ;  il  ne  veut  pas  me  le  redevoir. 


30  PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE 

Such  couplets  always  occur  when  a  mute  syllable  follows  any  vowel 
sound : 

Acfa   to  /e   chapeau.  Vous  n*   rec*   vez  pas  fc   paquet. 

Tu  ;/e   bois  /e   cidr*   que  /e   soir.      Tu  ne    me  le   rede  mandes  pas. 


RULE    II. 

The  e  of  a  mute  syllable  is  pronounced : 

a.  In  cases  where  the  sense  requires  that  the  mute  syllable  should 
be  emphasized: 

Je  dis,  je  ridis,  que   e   est  presque  toujours  muet. 
Prenez-1*.     Frononcez  le  mot  c^. 

b.  Between  two  consonants  alike  or  nearly  alike : 

Donnez-moi  \e  lait,*  pas  de  dessert,  ne  tomb*?  pas. 

c.  When  followed  by  an  aspirate  h: 

un^  honte,  cette  hache,  \e  haricot,  ce  hibou,  le  haut. 

d.  When  followed  by  a  syllable  ending  in  iez^  ier,  ions: 

e    INAUDIBLE.  e   AUDIBLE. 

atteler  atelier 

vous  semez  vous  s<?miez 

vous  pelez  vous  p^liez 

nous  tenons  nous  tenions 

nous  chanterons  nous  chant^rions 

vous  aimerez  vous  aim<?riez 

hence  in  the  conditional  of  all  regular  verbs  of  the  first  conjugation,  first 
person  plural,  and  second  person  plural. 

*  In  these  cases  e  is  sometimes  replaced  by  a  pause  without  breath,  as  shown  i;i 
the  following  exercise  : 

Say  without  stopping :  ne  p&j  ne  paj  ne  pa.  Repeat  this  several  times,  always 
finishing  without  the  j.  You  will  find  that  you  have  been  saying,  "  Je  n'ai  pas,"  as  a 
Frenchman  does  in  speaking  rapidly. 

Then  in  the  same  way  repeat :  lej  lej  le.  You  will  find  that  you  have  been  saying 
"  Je  1'ai"  or  "  gelee."  Similar  examples  may  be  found  ad  infinitum. 


MUTE    SYLLABLES  3! 

e.  If  preceded  by  two  consonant  sounds  in  the  same 
syllable  :* 

entretenir  entreprmeur  agrdabl^ment 

soumVter  le  gr^din  autr^fois 

le  grmat  mes  bretelles  vous  compraiez 

la  cretonne  vos  crevettes  les  grinouilles 

The  rules  that  we  have  given  you  for  mute  syllables  are  those  ob- 
served consciously  or  unconsciously  in  conversation  and  on  the  stage. 
They  are  sometimes  seemingly  contradicted  in  the  deliberate  utterance 
of  French  professors  and  lecturers,  who,  in  order  to  make  themselves 
better  understood,  especially  by  American  and  English  audiences, 
pronounce  all  their  syllables  distinctly,  making  the  mute  ones  as  prom- 
inent as  the  others. 

In  inflecting  words,  avoid  having  two  consecutive  mute  syllables  by 
placing  a  grave  ( ")  accent  over  the  first  or  by  doubling  the  consonant 
of  the  second : 

cher,         ch<?re  cruel,        cru^lle  premier,         premiere 

appeler,    app^lle  cadet,       cad^tte  parquet,         parqu^tterie 

acheter,    ach^te  Jeter,        j^tte  boulanger,     boulang<?re 

*  This  is  true  even  at  the  end  of  a  word  followed  by  another  word  beginning  with 
a  consonant : 

e  INAUDIBLE.  e  AUDIBLE. 

tabl<?  tabl<?  ouverte  tabk  verte 

bouck  boucltf  ordinaire  boucltf  soyeuse 

pantoufk  pantouflc?  elegante  pantoufk  de  soie 

ensemble  ensemble  alors  ensemble  toujours 

horrible  horrible  aventure  horrible  crime 

rhumatisnu?  rhumatism^  articulaire        rhumatism^  musculaire 

This  e  is  sometimes  heard  not  only  in  French  but  in  English,  even  when  it  does 
not  exist  in  the  printed  word.     Try  to  say  "  The  cab  passed  the  door"  and  you  will 
hear  e  between  cab  and  passed,  as  also  between  the  examples  given  below, 
fat  Thomas  fat  Thomas  tic  tac  tick  tick 

cap  double  cap  doubled  bourn  bourn  boom  boom 

In  the  examples  given  above,  note  that  e  is  an  involuntary  and  unavoidable  sound 
which  you  do  not  have  to  learn  to  pronounce ;  when  we  say  unavoidable  we  mean 
unavoidable  in  gentle  speech.  In  certain  examples  of  English  in  the  Middle  West  of 
the  United  States,  this  graceful  vowel  bridge  e  between  consonants  is  avoided,  but 
the  intense  articulation  necessary  to  make  full  stops  between  consonants  causes  ever 
recurring  shocks  and  jerks,  and  ought  not  to  be  copied. 


32  PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE 

LINKING  SOUNDS  TOGETHER. 

In  English,  elegance  of  diction  often  consists  in  keeping 
sounds  separate ;  but  in  elegant  French  the  exact  opposite 
obtains,  and  sounds  are  joined  together  just  as  much  as 
possible : 

Mes  amis  en  ont  aussi  =  me  za  mi  za  no  tau  ci. 
II  y  en  a  tant  ici  =  i  li  a  na  ta  ti  ci. 

LIAISONS. 

A  liaison  is  the  carrying  over  of  the  final  consonant  of  a 
word  to  the  initial  vowel  of  the  next  word,  when  that 
consonant  is  silent  in  the  word  to  which  it  belongs  :* 

Nous  sommes^,arrives  tout^entier  ils  finissent^a  temps 

Vous  avez^entendu  aimerj^et(e)  mourir  achetentj;ils  ? 

In  liaisons  the  sounds  of  d,  f,  g,  s  and  x,  are  changed: 

d  =  t,   as  in  quand^il  parle. 

f  =  v,  as  in  neuf^hommes. 

g  —  k,  as  in  sang^et  eau. 

=  z,  as  in  pas^encore,  je  peux^entrer. 


*  The  consonant  thus  carried  over  is  very  delicately  though  perfectly  articulated, 
and  offers  a  marked  contrast  with  the  intensely  articulated  final  consonant. 

f  This  liaison  with  the  infinitive  of  the  first  conjugation  is  used  only  in  the 
so-called  high  style  of  classical  tragedy;  never  in  conversation  or  even  in  comedy. 

J  (i)   The  otherwise  silent  t  of  the  ent  final  of  the  plural  of  verbs  is  always  tied  to 
the  following  vowel. 

(2)  In  the  interrogative  form  of  the  third  person  singular  of  verbs,  the  character- 
istic t  is  always  heard.    Indeed,  when  it  does  not  exist  in  the  printed  word,  it  is  often 

inserted  for  euphony : 

partjl  va-t-il 

rendjl  a-t-il 


LINKING    SOUNDS    TOGETHER  -  LIAISONS  33 

In  tying  a  nasalized  vowel  to  the  following  word  the  nasal 
is  pronounced  in  all  its  purity  and  an  additional  n  prefixed 
to  the  next  vowel : 


un  abricot 

un  nabricot 

bien  etabli 

bien  netabli 

en  Afrique 

en  nafrique 

son  habitude 

son  nabitude 

il  y  en  a 

il  y  en  na 

j'en  ai 

j'en  nai 

en  a-t-il 

en  na-t-il 

rien  a.  dire 

rien  na  dire 

mon  encre 

mon  nencre 

bien  a  vous 

bien  na  vous 

ton  ami 

ton  nami 

on  ecoute 

on  necoute* 

As  liaisons  are  used  only  to  make  sentences  musical, 
very  few  rules  can  be  devised  for  them.  A  liaison  is  only 
a  question  of  taste,  and  what  would  be  musical  in  one  com- 
bination of  sounds  would  not  be  so  in  another.  For  in- 
stance "II  va  aux^eaux"  and  "Nous_allons_au  bois",  are 
perfectly  musical,  but  "Nous_allons_aux_eaux"  would  be 
very  unmusical,  and  it  is  only  the  trained  ear  which  leads 
us  to  avoid  the  repetition  of  the  z  sound  and  makes  us  say 
correctly,  "Nous^allons  aux^eaux".  The  following  rules, 
however,  offer  no  exceptions: 

A  liaison  always  occurs : 
I.   Between  a  verb  and  its  pronoun  subject: 

ils^ornent  vous^habitez          ils^auraient 

nous^abritons         vous^etes  nous^alimentons 

*  Notice  the  fine  distinction  between  the  affirmative,  in  which  the  liaison  occurs 
and  the  negative  in  which  it  does  not  occur : 

on  ecoute        on  necoute :         on  n'6coute  pas        on  —  necoute  pas. 
The  difference  is  indicated  by  a  pause,  which  brings  out  the  n  of  the  negative  ne : 
such  pauses  are  often  necessary  in  English  also : 

two  little  eggs :  two  little  —  legs. 


34  PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE 

its  pronoun  object: 

nous  en^avons  il  en^avait 

ils  les^ont  vous  les^auriez 

its  attribute  or  its  adjective  complement: 

ils  sont^Espagnols         vous  etes^aimable 
c'est^elle  il  parait^abattu 

ce  sont^eux  nous  sommes^lieureux 

il  est^avocat  il  est^intelligent 

Between  an  auxiliary  and  its  participle: 
il  y  est^alle          vous  etes^admire'         tu  as^approuve* 
tu  es^arrive'          nous  avons^obei          ils  sont^arriv^s 
il  aurait^e'te'         ils  se  sont^aimes         nous  sommes^honores 

II.   With  adverbs: 

bien^entendu            trop^^pais  souvent^ennuyeux 

tout^a  vous              assez^exact  pauvrement^habilld 

pas^encore                point^en  regie  profondement^endorrni 

With  the  articles  un  and  les  and  the  contractions  aux  and  des: 

un^ami  des^iles 

les^oreilles  aux^abois 

III.  With  adjectives  preceding  nouns: 

gros^homme      vos»xiddes  ces^oranges       nos^impressions 

petit^enfant       mauvais^exemple     son^meraude    aucun^exemple 

IV.  With  prepositions: 

apr&s^elle  en^,  Italic  sans^h^sitation 

chez^eux  dans^une  minute  sous^aucun  pr^texte 


LINKING    SOUNDS    TOGETHER  -  LIAISONS  33 

V.   With  s  or  x  of  the  plural : 

choux^et  panais       des  bas^lastiques       portes^ouvertes 
personnes^aussi  aimables  que  belles 
rivieres^encore  couvertes  de  glace 

VI.    And  almost  always  with  monosyllables  (not  substantive) 
ending  in  n :* 

son^e'le'ment  un^homme  bien^aimable 

on^en^a  en^Autriche  rien^a  proposer 

A  liaison  never  occurs : 

I.    Between  words  separated  by  a  pause  of  any  kind: 
Lisez  et  vous  verrez.  "Mangez",  insista-t-il. 

Attends,  et  il  viendra.  Je  te  dis,  £coute  bien. 

II.    With  t  of  et(€) :  et  ensuite. 

III.  With  n  of  on  when  it  is  the  subject  of  an  interrogative  verb: 
Y  a-t-on  &<*?  Peut-on  attendre? 

L'a-t-on  admire*?  Veut-on  y  aller? 

S.ait-on  ou  le  trouver? 

IV.  With  an  aspirate  h:  en  haut,  not  en  naut. 

LINKINGS. 

There  are  other  linkings  of  sounds  which  being  more  subtle,  require 
even  more  study  and  attention  than  those  designated  as  liaisons.  The 
basic  principle  of  carrying  consonants  over  to  the  following  vowel  is 
applied  both  to  syllables  and  to  words. 

*  As  combien,  selon,  environ,  enfin,  quelqu'un,  chacun,  etc.,  are  not  monosyllables, 
they  do  not  come  under  this  rule ;  linkings  with  them  must  be  made  without  the 
additional  n  which  we  have  in  a  liaison. 

Linkings.  Liaisons. 

Combien  avez-vous  de  pommes  ?  En^avez-vous  ? 

Sekvn^elle.  On^est  libre. 

Environ  une  heure.  On^unit  les  conjoints 


36  PERFECT  FRENCH  POSSIBLE 

CONSONANTS  LINKED  TO  VOWELS. 


SYLLABLES. 

WORDS. 

ami 

a  mi 

il  a 

i  la 

agneau 
lunettes 

a  gneau 
lu  nettes 

cet  honneur 
bel  astre 

ce  tonneur 
be  lastre 

comme 

co  mme 

roc  6  tern  el 

ro  keternel 

finir  a  midi 

fini  ra  midi 

par  Eugenie 
leur  idole 

pa  reug^nie 
leu  ridole 

recevoir  avec  moi 

recevoi  ravec  moi 

Whole  syllables  are  often  carried  over  to  the  next  word : 
votre  ami  boucle  e'le'gante  Toncle  Emile 

aimable  enfant  vendre  au  rabais          tendre  et(e*)  bon 

rendre  aussitot  peuple  admirable          pourpre  e'clatante 

quatre  heures  aveugle  admirateur      pantoufle  et  bas 

In  the  last  six  examples  you  can  hear  the  English  words,  plaid, 
glad,  clay,  dray,  pray,  flay. 

The  following  examples  show  the  difference  between  linkings  and 
liaisons : 

LINKINGS.  LIAISONS. 

grande  amie  grand^ami 

Qu'il  repond^e^Ji  mes  questions  II  repond^a  mes  questions 

harangue  ennuyeuse  sang^et(d)  eau 

In  words  ending  in  rd,  rs,  rt,  the  last  letter  is  silent  and  it  is  the  ? 
which  is  tied  to  the  following  vowel : 

vers  elle  bord^use* 

le  mors  aux  dents  vert^et  rose 

univers  entier  part^egal 

a  travers  eau  et(e)  flamme  il  part  avec  moi.* 

*  See  footnote  page  32,  part  2. 


LINKING    SOUNDS    TOGETHER  -  LIAISONS 

VOWELS  LINKED  TO  VOWELS, 


37 


ideal 

ide^al 

obe*ir 

obe^ir 

agrdez 

agre^ez 

poeme 

po^eme 

ae're' 

a^rd 

bleuet 

bleu^et 

agrdable 

agreeable 

aeroplane 

aeroplane 

Qui  a^ose^y^aller? 


SYLLABLES. 


II  y^a^eujme  heure  d'attente. 
J'ai_£tudie'. 
trou*  ouvert 
Atala^a^e'coute*. 
LilMmite  sa  soeur. 
II  a  bu^une  tasse  de  the. 
«  Jeannot  au  desespoir. 

In  the  linking  of  two  similar  vowels,  it  is  not  one  long  sound  that 
is  heard,  but  two  complete  sounds,  each  with  its  crescendo  and  dimin- 
uendo, linked  together  without  any  break.  The  following  diagrams 
show  that  there  is  no  break  between  the  two  vowels,  but  only  a  gradual 
swelling  and  diminishing: 

cre*d  Papa  a  raison. 

This  is  as  true  of  English  vowels  as  of  French  ones:  g<?  over,  three 
eels. 

LlNKINGS    WITH    SUBSTANTIVES. 

A  linking  is  made  with  the  last  sounded  consonant  or  vowel  sound 
of  a  substantive,  in  the  singular. 

jupje  ample  Jean  est  ici  Ella^est  un  nom 

ami^intime  Emile  a  raison  Maxime^pte  le  couvert 

dcolier  affair^  Georges  ji  tort  Charles  j^uvre  la  stance 

*  In  cases  where  a  sound  is  represented  by  more  than  one  letter  the  tie  has  been 
made  from  the  middle  of  the  combination  in  the  first  word  to  thejirst  letter  of  the 
combination  in  the  second  word. 


PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE 


acteur^&nu 
£coliere_Jnstruite 
1'acier  aussi 
le  fer^aussi 
gargon*  actif 
chauffeur^habile 
raison  admirable 
lame  ^mousse'e 


Hdlenej3se  tout 
Constant  embrasse 
Gastqnjionteux 
Emma^admire 
Claire  aime 
Berth  e  aide 
Rogerjipproche 
Eustache  a  le  trac 


Henri^invite  Pierre 
Edouard  agite  la  main 
automobilejflectrique 
un  bas  elastique 
la  ficelle^est  forte 
1'un  et  1'autre 
de  lorn  en  loin 
mettre  fin  a  tout  cela 


RHYTHM. 

Rhythm  is  much  more  strongly  marked  in  French  than  in  English. 
Indeed  we  might  safely  say  that  French  prose  scans,  so  rhythmical 
are  its  successive  beats.  The  reason  for  this  is  obvious.  Words  in 
English  are  accented  now  on  the  first,  second,  or  on  the  third,  fourth 
or  fifth  syllable  as  the  case  may  be,  whereas  in  French  the  pulse  is 
perfectly  regular,  as  it  is  only  the  last  sounded  syllable  of  a  word  or 
of  a  stress-group,  that  receives  the  tonic  accent,  which  accent,  be  it 
parenthetically  remarked,  is  not  an  accent  in  the  English  sense  of  the 
word,  not  a  blow^  but  a  caress  felt  in  its  lingering  rather  than  in  its 
stress. 

The  rhythm  of  a  French  sentence  thus  depends  upon  the  alternating 
(more  or  less  regular)  of  the  accented  f  syllable  (syllabe  forte)  and  the 
unaccented  syllable  (syllabe  foible).  Other  syllables  may  be  considered 
intermediate  and  serve  phonetically  only  to  "fill  in"  between  beats,  and 
it  is  especially  in  this  filling-in  process  that  we  must  remember  to  give 
to  each  vowel  its  true  sound  without  prefixing  or  adding  another  sound, 
and  to  give  to  it  its  whole  length.  In  the  expression  "au  fur  et  a 

*  Notice  the  difference  between  a  liaison  and  a  linking  ;  in  the  linking  there  is  no 
additional  n. 

gargon  actif  on  active  le  feu. 

t  We  have  usually  avoided  the  word  accent ',  meaning  stress,  in  order  that  the  pupil 
might  not  confound  it  with  the  English  signification  of  the  word  or  with  the  accent 
aigu('). 


RHYTHM  39 

mesure"  fur  and  su  are  much  longer  and  stronger  than  au,  et  and  rt, 
but  that  is  no  reason  why  these  three  syllables  should,  according  to  the 
English  tendency,  be  shortened  or  slighted  in  any  way,  nor  must  we 
linger  over  the  entirely  mute  e  of  me. 

123  12345 

au  fur  et          k  m        su        r 

Notice  what  an  important  r61e  the  mute  e  plays  in  rhythm.  In 
Marseilles  we  hear  four  pronounced  syllables  in  "  a  mesure."  In  Pa- 
ris we  hear  only  two.* 

It  must  be  remembered  that  French  is  a  language  in  which  the 
syllable  is  the  unit,  whereas  in  English,  it  is  the  word  which  consti- 
tutes entity.  We  cannot  too  often  repeat  that  a  French  word,  unless 
isolated,  is  never  pronounced  as  a  word,  with  a  regular  beginning  and 
an  end,  but  as  a  succession  of  syllables,  which  melt  into  the  rest  of  the 
sentence,  and  a  French  sentence  is  not  a  succession  of  strongly  and 
individually  accented  words,  but  a  succession  of  syllables  with  a  regu- 
larly recurring  beat. 

For  instance,  the  sentence  —  Votre  oncle  est  id —  is  not  pronounced 
as  four  words,  but  as  five  syllables  —  Vo  tro  cl&  ti  ci.  No  wonder  that 
so  many  people,  who  read  French  with  ease,  cannot  understand  it  when 
it  is  spoken.  They  do  not  recognize  in  what  sounds  exactly  like  "  Sam 
Fred  lap  Penn,"  and  "lash  me  nay",  the  French  words  they  know  so 
well  by  sight,  "Qa  me  ferait  de  la  peine"  and  "la  chemine'e." 

The  tendency  of  Americans  is  to  accent  the  first  part  of  a  French 
word,  and  we  hear  people  who  speak  the  language  very  fluently  say, 
in  a  manner  quite  shocking  to  French  ears,  la^-gu-re,  le  ^r-ri-dor,  le 
ca-/#-ri-f  e-re,  when  the  simple  expedient  of  placing  the  slight  stress  in 
its  proper  place,  la  fi-g7/-re,  le  cor-ri-d<?r,  le  ca-lo-ri-f<?-re,  would  give  to 
these  words  their  true  French  rhythm.  Indeed  nothing  helps  so  much 
to  correct  the  American  or  English  accent  as  removing  the  stress  from 
a  syllable  where  there  should  be  no  stress,  changing  it  to  a  slight  caress 
and  putting  it  on  the  last  sounded  syllable,  if  one  remembers  at  the 
same  time  to  give  to  all  the  preceding  syllables  their  true  length,  no 
more  or  less. 

*"  As  to  vowels  it  is  Paris  that  gives  the  law." —  Ernest  Legouve.  L?art  de  la 
Lecture ;  page  51. 


4O  PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE 

The  following  diagrams  in  which  the  counting  is  even,  show  how 
much  more  equally  the  length  of  a  French  word  is  divided  among  its 
different  syllables  than  is  that  of  our  English  word. 
123456 

ka          le  i  do  scope 

i         ^ 3     _4         5         6 

ka  lei  do        scope 

The  question  of  displaced  accent  is  quite  another  thing ;  that  comes 
into  play  for  emphasis  only,  but  it  occurs  continually,  seemingly  con- 
tradicting the  general  law  of  rhythm.  Paul  Passy,  the  famous  French 
phonetician,  tells  us  that  in  English,  and  in  many  of  the  continental 
languages,  we  emphasize  by  giving  added  strength  to  the  already  ac- 
cented syllable,  as  in  "butcher",  which,  when  emphatic,  becomes 
"butcher"  while  in  French  we  emphasize  by  displacing  the  accent, 
"bou^r,"  becoming  "fowcher."  This  displaced  stress,  being  so 
strong,  is  very  noticeable ;  and  foreigners,  struck  by  it,  naturally  think 
that  it  is  the  normal  tonic  accent,  and  endeavor  to  imitate  it,  with  the 
result  we  know.  It  is  as  if,  on  hearing  an  orator,  who,  entirely  disre- 
garding the  normal  English  accent,  should  say,  in  order  to  bring  out  a 
point, "  We  must  respect,  not  j^spect  the  Senate,"  a  Frenchman  should 
go  away  pronouncing  the  words  respect  and  suspect  with  the  accent 
on  the  first  syllable,  convinced  that  he  is  doing  it  correctly,  because 
he  is  saying  the  word  exactly  as  he  heard  an  English  orator  say  it! 
Normal  French,  reiterates  Mr.  Passy,  requires  that  the  last  sounded 
syllable  should  receive  the  tonic  accent.  Avoid  using  the  misplaced 
accent  when  not  under  the  guidance  of  your  teacher.  In  studying 
alone,  confine  yourself  strictly  to  the  normal  accent,  until  you  are 
sufficiently  advanced  to  use  the  other  in  a  manner  inoffensive  to 
French  ears. 

STRESS  GROUPS. 

A  stress  group  is  generally  composed  of  two  or  three  words  closely 
connected  by  the  sense  they  convey ;  but  a  word  standing  alone  often 
constitutes  a  stress  group.  In  reading  sentences  in  any  language,  we 
find  that  words  naturally  fall  into  stress  groups  and  it  is  well  to  remen> 


STRESS    GROUPS 


ber  that  in  French  the  last  pronounced  syllable  of  a  stress  group  is 
longer  and  stronger  than  any  other  in  the  group. 

In  the  sentence  "Vous  comprenez"  the  last  syllable  nez  receives 
the  tonic  accent,  while  in  the  question  "Comprenez-vous?"  the  word 
vous  receives  the  tonic  accent,  as  it  is  the  last  syllable  of  the  stress 
group.  If  the  learner  will  consider  the  words  of  every  stress  group, 
not  separate  and  distinct  words,  but  component  parts  of  a  polysyl- 
lable, and  place  the  tonic  stress  upon  the  last  sounded  syllable  of  this 
polysyllable,  he  will  get  a  good  idea  of  the  phrasing  of  the  sentence  he 
is  reading,  and  of  its  true  French  rhythm. 

When  this  method  of  learning  French  has  been  generally  adopted, 
students  will  no  longer  surprise  French  people  by  asking  for  "Oon 
demmy  </<?<?zane  Granges"  instead  of  "  Une  demi-douzame  &  oranges". 

Sentences  showing  that  it  is  always  the  last  sounded  syllable  of  a  group  which 

gets  the  stress. 
Vous  etes  Id  ? 
Quelle  heure  est-z7? 
Avez-vous  r/ieuiQ  ? 
Comment  z\\ez-vous  ? 
Vous  allez  bien  ? 
Bien,  mercz ;  et  vous  ? 


Neige-t-/7? 

II  neige. 

Ya-t-il  des/awtes?* 

Oui,  il  y  en  a. 

Y  en  a-t-/7? 

II  n'y  en  a  pas. 

Y  etes-vous? 

Vous  y  /tes? 

Madame,  y  est-^lle? 

Elle  n'y  estflas. 

Copiez-/*. 

Copiez-le  done. 

Le  copiez'vou  s  ? 

Telepho«<?z. 

Telephonez-w^'. 


Vous  compre#<?z? 

Yims. 

Finis-/*. 

Finis  done. 

Finissez. 

Finissez-Ar. 

Le  finissez-vous  ? 

Je  chanie. 

Je  chanfozj. 

Je  chantenzz. 

Je  chanterflzj. 

J'ai  chan//. 

*  You  will  see  that  on  this  page,  as  on  all  others,  we  adhere  to  our  plan  of  italiciz- 
ing the  thing  in  question;  here  it  is  the  last  sounded  syllable.  When  the  last  sounded 
consonant  does  not  occur  in  the  last  sounded  syllable,  we  have  not  italicized  it,  because 
you  already  know  that  it  must  be  pronounced  with  extra  force. 


Entendez-vous  le  tele- 


J'aime  chanter. 

Qu'allez-vous/~tf/re  ? 

Je  vais  faire  ce/#. 

Voila  le  chat. 

Le  voi/iz. 

II  m'aime. 

II  m'aime  bien. 

Te  leves-to  ? 

Tu  te/^ves? 

Ne  te  leves-tu/dfj? 

Es-tu  la  ? 

Tu  y  es  ? 

En  onW/x? 

Us  en  ont. 

A  qui  est-CQ  ? 

C'est  a  moi. 

Ou  en  sommes-nous  ? 

Nous  en  sommes  la. 


C'est  vous1 


42  PERFECT    FRENCH    POSSIBLE 

THE  DISPLACED  ACCENT. 

When  under  the  guidance  of  your  teacher  you  begin  the  study  of 
the  displaced  accent,  the  following  rule  will  be  very  helpful. 

RULE. 

In  general,  when  you  wish  to  use  the  displaced  accent  for  any  word, 
put  it  on  the  first  syllable  beginning  with  a  consonant.* 

insupportable,  f      afominable,      s^perbe,      d'/licieux. 

The  following  examples  show  that  in  each  case,  it  is  the  meaning 
of  the  sentence  which  decides  whether,  or  not,  a  displaced  accent  shall 
be  added  to  the  normal  accent,  f 

Non,  ce  n'est  phis  mon  fils.f 


Est-ce  votre  fils?  (fiss) 

1  Oui,  c'est  lui. 


„  .  /MI   -,  (  Non,  ce  n'est  pas  une  fille. 

Est-ce  une  fille?  \        .  '  , 

(  Oui,  c  est  une  fille. 

•  Non,  elle  est  a  Vautre  dame. 
Non,  c'est  sa  soupe. 


Est-ce  sa  creme? 


Pourquoi  ne  dites-vous  (  Parce  que  ce  n'est  pas  vrai. 
pas  que  c'est  vrai  ?  (  Parce  que  c'est  faux. 

*  A  free  translation  of  rule  given  by  Paul  Passy  "  Sons  du  Frangais",  page  51. 
t  Remember  that,  even  where  the  displaced  accent  is  used,  the  normal  accent 
remains  more  or  less  strongly  marked. 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  KNOWLES-FAVARD  SYSTEM. 

The  Knowles-Favard  System  of  Pronunciation  may  be 
briefly  summarized  as  follows: 

I.  Speak  from  the  front  of  the  mouth  (as  we  have 
shown  you  how  to  do  in  the  exercises  on  pages 
9-12). 

II.  Keep  your  vowels  pure  (following  the  directions 
we  have  given  you  on  pages  3-6). 

III.  Place   consonants    and   consonant  combinations 

with  the  vowels  that  follow  them. 

IV.  Remember  that  a  French  sentence  is  not  a  suc- 

cession of  words,  but  a  succession  of  syllables 
that  fall  into  stress  groups. 

V.  That  the  mute  syllable  must  be  muted  (as  we 

have  shown  you  on  pages  29-31),  and 

VI.  That  the  last  sounded  syllable  of  a  stress  group 
must  receive  the  tonic  accent  (pages  38-41). 


43 


DICTEE. 

Vous  avez  bien  prepare  les  lemons  de  phonetique  precedentes, 

Vos  voyelles  sont  pures.  Pour  former  /,  d,  /,  et  «,  vous 
appliquez  la  face  superieure  de  la  langue  contre  les  dents. 
Vos  consonnes  sont  toutes  clairement  articulees. 

Vos  consonnes  initiales  sont  distinctement,  mais  tres  deli- 
catement  prononcees. 

Vos  consonnes  finales  sont  de  veritables  explosions. 

En  decomposant  les  mots  en  syllabes,  vous  joignez  une 
consonne  placee  entre  deux  voyelles  a  la  seconde  de  ces  deux 
voyelles. 

Vous  prononcez  rarement  e. 

Vous  effacez  beaucoup  la  consonne  finale  que  vous  joignez 
a  la  voyelle  initiale  du  mot  suivant. 

Vous  caressez  plus  que  vous  n'accentuez  la  derniere  syllabe 
sonore  de  votre  groupe  de  force. 

Done,  vous  commencez  a  bien  prononcer  et  vous  n'ignorez 
pas  les  lois  du  rythme  de  la  langue  frangaise.  Vous  etes,  a 
present,  pret  a  attaquer  les  lemons  de  conversation,  de  gram- 
maire,  et  de  litterature,  source  inepuisable  de  recreation  et  des 
plus  purs  plaisirs  intellectuels. 

Ne  discontinuez  pas  vos  exercises  de  phonetique  que  vous 
allez  appliquer  aux  pages  de  prose  suivantes  et  aussi  a  toutes 
vos  autres  e'tudes  en  frangais. 

Toutes  les  fois  que  vous  serez  dans  le  doute  pour  la  pro- 
nonciation  d'un  nouveau  mot,  consultez  ce  petit  manuel. 


44 


PROSE  FOR  PRACTICE. 

Slow  Reading  in  Which  Stress  Groups  are  Indicated. 
Chaque  bouton  ne*  |  fleurit  |  qu'une  fois  |  et  chaque  fleur  | 
n'a  que  sa  minute  |  de  parfaite  |  beaute;f  de  meme,  dans  le 
jardin  de  |  Tame,  chaque   sentiment  |  a  comme  sa  minute  | 
florale,  c'est-a-dire,     son  moment  unique  |  de  grace  epanouie  | 
et  de  |  rayonnante  |  royaute'.     Chaque  astre  |  ne  passe  qu'une 
fois  |    par  nuit  |  au  meridien  |  sur  nos  tetes  |  et  n'y  brille  | 
qu'un  instant;  ainsi  |  dans  le  ciel  |  de  1'intelligence,  il  n'est,  si 
j'ose  dire,  pour  chaque  pensee  |  qu'un  instant  zenithal,  ou  elle 
culmine  |  dans  tout  son  eclat  |  et  dans  sa  souveraine  grandeur. 
Artiste,  poete  ou  penseur,  saisis  tes  idees  |  et  tes  sentiments  | 
a  ce  point  precis  |  et  fugitif,  pour  les  fixer  |  ou  les  eterniser, 
car  |  c'est  leur  point  supreme.    Avant  cet  instant,  tu  n'as  que 
leurs    e'bauches  confuses  |  ou    leurs    pressentiments    obscurs; 
apres  lui,  tu  n'auras  |  que  des  reminiscences  affaiblies  |  ou  | 
des  repentirs  impuissants;  cet  instant  |  est  celui  de  |  1'ideal. 

—  AmieL 

Le  travail  |  certainement  |  est  une  loi  sacree,  puisqu'il  suffit 
d'en  faire  |  la  plus  legere  application  |  pour  eprouver  |  je  ne 
sais  quelle  serenitd.  L'homme  |  cependant  |  n'aime  point  le 
travail:  il  n'en  peut  me'connaitre  |  les  infaillibles  bienfaits ;  il 
les  goute  chaque  jour,  s'en  applaudit,  et  chaque  lendemain  | 
il  se  remet  au  travail  |  avec  la  meme  repugnance.  II  me 
semble  |  qu'il  y  a  la  |  une  contradiction  |  singuliere  et 
mysterieuse,  comme  si  nous  sentions  |  a  la  fois  |  dans  le 
travail  |  le  chatiment  et  le  caractere  |  divin  et  paternel  |  du 
juge.  —  Octave  Feuillet. 

*  The  adverb  ne  is  separated  from  the  verb^wr/V  which  it  modifies,  because,  by 
the  muting  of  its  <?,  n  is  left  to  become  a  part  of  the  preceding  syllable  ton,  thus : 
ton.  The  muting  of  the  e  in  monosyllables  often  causes  such  separations. 

\  As  marks  of  punctuation  usually  coincide  with  the  end  of  stress  groups,  vertical 
lines  have  been  omitted  in  these  places. 

45 


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Loti's  Ramuntcho  (Fontaine).     40  cts. 

Marivaux's  Le  Jeu  del  'amour  et  du  ha  sard  (Fortier).     Vocab.     40  cts. 
M£rim6e's  Chronique  du  Regne  de  Charles  IX  (Desages).     35  cts. 
Mdrimee's  Colomba  (Fontaine).     Vocabulary  .  50  cts. 
Moliere  en  Recits  (Chapuzet  and  Daniels).     Vocabulary.     55  cts. 
Moliere's  L'Avare  (Levi).     40  cts. 

Moliere's  Le  Bourgeois  Gentilhomme  (Warren).     Vocabulary.    40  cts. 
Moliere's  Le  Medecin  Malgre  Lui  (Hawkins).     Vocabulary.     35  cts. 
Pailleron's  Le  Monde  ou  1'on  s'ennuie  (Pendleton).     Vocabulary.    45  cts. 
Poemes  et  Chants  de  France  (Daniels  and  Travers) .     Vocabulary.     55  cts. 
Racine's  Andromaque    (Wells).    Vocabulary.     40  cts. 
Racine's  Athalie  (Eggert).     35  cts. 
Racine's  Esther  (Spiers).     Vocabulary.     35  cts. 
Renan's  Souvenirs  d'Enfance  et  de  Jeunesse  (Babbitt).     75  cts. 
Sand's  La  Mare  au  Diable  (Sumichrast).     Vocabulary.     40  cts. 
Sand's  La  Petite  Fadette  (Super).     Vocabulary.    40  cts. 
Sandeau's  Mile  de  la  Seigliere  (Warren).     Vocabulary.    45  cts. 
Sardou's  Les  Pattes  de  Mouche  (Farns worth).     Vocabulary.     45  cts. 
Scribe's  Bataille  de  Dames  (Wells).     Vocabulary.     40  cts. 
Scribe's  Le  Verre  d'Eau  (Eggert).     Vocabulary.     45  cts. 
Sept  Grands  Auteurs  du  XIXe  Siecle  (Fortier).     Lectures.     65  cts. 
Souvestre's  Un  Philosophe  sous  les  Toits  (Fraser).     Vocabulary.     55  cts. 
Thiers's  Expedition  de  Bonaparte  en  Egypte  (Fabregou).     40  cts. 
Verne's  Tour  du  Monde  en  quatre-vingts  jours  (Edgren).     Vocab.     50  cts. 
Verne's  Vingt  mille  lieues  sous  les  mers  (Fontaine).     Vocab.     50  cts. 
Zola's  La  Debacle  (Wells).     Abridged.     65  cts. 


Ibeatb's  /iDobern  ^Language  Secies 

ADVANCED  FRENCH  TEXTS. 
Balzac's  Le  Pere  Goriot  (Sanderson).     $1.00. 
Boileau:  Selections  (Kuhns).     55  cts. 
Bornier's  La  Fille  de  Roland  (Nelson).     35  cts. 
Bossuet:  Selections  (Warren).     50  cts. 
Calvin:  Pages  Choisies  (Jordan).     70  cts. 
Corneille's  China  (Matzke).    35  cts. 
Corneille's  Horace  (Matzke).     35  cts. 
Corneille's  Le  Cid   (Warren).     Vocabulary.    45  cts. 
Corneille's  Polyeucte  (Fortier).     35  cts. 
Delpit's  L'Age  d'Or  de  la  Litterature  Francaise.    90  cts. 
Diderot:  Selections  (Giese).     55  cts. 
Duval's  Histoire  de  la  Litteratmre  Francaise.     $1.20. 
French  Prose  of  the  XVHth  Century  (Warren).     $1.10. 
Hugo's  Hernani  (Matzke).     65  cts. 
Hugo's  Les  Miserables  (Super).     Abridged.    $1.00. 
Hugo's  Les  Travailleurs  de  la  Mer  (Langley).     Abridged.     $1.00. 
Hugo's  Poems  (Schinz).     90  cts. 
Hugo's  Ruy  Bias  (Garner).     75  cts. 
La  Bruyere:  Les  Caracteres  (Warren).     55  cts. 
Lamartine's  Meditations  (Curme).     55  cts. 

La  Triade  Francaise.     Poems  of  Lamartine,  Musset,  and  Hugo.     80  cts. 
Lesage's  Turcaret  (Kerr).     35  cts. 

Maitres  de  la  Critique  lit.  au  XIXe  Siecle  (Comfort).     50  cts. 
Moliere's  Le  Misanthrope  (Fortier).    40  cts. 
Moliere's  Les  Femmes  Savantes  (Fortier).     35  cts. 
Moliere's  Les  Fourberies  de  Scapin  (McKenzie).     Vocabulary.     40  cts. 
Moliere's  Les  Precieuses  Ridicules  (Toy).     30  cts. 
Moliere's  Le  Tartuffe  (Wright).     35  cts. 
Montaigne:  Selections  (Wright).     90  cts. 
Pascal:  Selections  (Warren).     55  cts. 
Racine's  Les  Plaideurs  (Wright).    35  eta. 
Racine's  Phedre  (Babbitt).    35  cts. 
Rostand's  La  Princesse  Lointaine  (Borgerhoff).     45  cts. 
Voltaire's  Prose  (Cohn  and  Woodward).     $1.20. 
Voltaire's  Zaire  (Cabeen).    35  cts. 

ROMANCE  PHILOLOGY. 

Introduction  to  Vulgar  Latin  (Grandgent).     $1.50. 
Provencal  Phonology  and  Morphology  (Grandgent).     $1.50. 


1beatb>5  /IDo&ern  ^Language  Series 

GERMAN  GRAMMARS  AND  READERS. 

Ball's  German  Drill  Book.     Companion  to  any  grammar.     90  cts. 

Ball's  German  Grammar.     $1.00. 

Bishop  and  McKinlay's  Deutsche  Grammatik.     $1.00. 

Deutsches  Liederbuch.     With  music.     96  cts. 

Foster's  Geschichten  und  Marchen.     For  young  children.     45  cts. 

Fraser  and  Van  der  Smissen's  German  Grammar.     $1.20. 

Greenfield's  Grammar  Summary  and  Word  List.     30  cts. 

Guerber's  Marchen  und  Erzahlungen,  I,     65  cts.     II,     65  cts. 

Haertel  and  Cast's  Elements  of  Grammar  for  Review.     50  cts. 

Harris's  German  Composition.     60  cts. 

Harris's  German  Lessons.     70  cts. 

Hastings'  Studies  in  German  Words.     $1.20. 

Heath's  German  Dictionary.     $1.60. 

Hewitt's  Practical  German  Composition.     35  cts. 

Holzwarth's  Gruss  aus  Deutschland.     $1.00. 

Huebsch-Smith's  Progressive  Lessons  in  German.     60  cts. 

Huebsch-Smith's  Progressive  Lessons  in  German.    Rev.     70  cts. 

Huss's  German  Reader.     80  cts. 

Jones's  Des  Kindes  erstes  Lesebuch      35  cts. 

Joynes-Meissner  German  Grammar.     $1.25. 

Joynes  and  Wesselhoeft's  German  Grammar.     $1.25. 

Kriiger  and  Smith's  Conversation  Book.     30  cts. 

Manfred's  Ein  praktischer  Anfang.     $1.25. 

Meras'  Ein  Wortschatz.     25  cts. 

Mosher  and  Jenney's  Lern-  und  Lesebuch.     $1.25. 

Pattou's  An  American  in  Germany.     A  conversation  book.     75  cts. 

Schmidhofer's  Lese-Ubungen  fur  Kinder.     3 Gets. 

Schmidhofer's  Erstes  Lesebuch.    44  cts.     With  vocab.,  60  cts. 

Schmidhofer's  Zweites  Lesebuch.     60  cts. 

Spanhoofd's  Elementarbuch  der  deutschen  Sprache.     $1.15. 

Spanhoofd's  Erstes  deutsches  Lesebuch.     80  cts. 

Spanhoofd's  Lehrbuch  der  deutschen  Sprache.     $1.15. 

Wallentin's  Grundziige  der  Naturlehre  (Palmer).     $1.20. 

Wesselhoeft's  Elementary  German  Grammar.     $1.00. 

Wesselhoeft's  Exercises.     Conversation  and  composition.     55  cts. 

Wesselhoeft's  German  Composition      50  cts. 

Zinnecker's  Deutsch  fiir  Anf anger.    $1.25. 


,'40  (6936s) 


YB  OUfin 


K41889 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


